COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Housing: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to write off local authority debt in respect of council housing in Bolton; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: Bolton council is currently undertaking a formal statutory consultation and ballot of their tenants on a proposal to transfer their homes to a new landlord. My predecessor agreed that this transfer should proceed to consultation with tenants in a ministerial statement on 16 December. The transfer of homes would require housing debt to be transferred from local to central Government. I am content for this consultation to proceed.

Council Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Vauxhall of 15 June 2010,  Official Report, column 368W, on council housing: construction, how much his Department contributed to local authorities from the National Affordable Housing Programme for the building of new homes in the last five financial years.

Andrew Stunell: The Homes and Communities Agency provided £97 million grant in 2009-10 to support local authorities build new council housing under the Local Authority New Build programme (a subset of the National Affordable Housing Programme). There was no direct support for new council housing in the previous four financial years.

Councillors: Pay

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many remunerated councillors there are in each county.

Bob Neill: My Department does not hold this information.

Councillors: Pay

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council cabinet members receive remuneration; and how much each local authority has allocated for expenditure on such remuneration in 2010.

Bob Neill: My Department does not hold this information. Each council makes available locally for public inspection the allowances paid to each of their councillors. We are committed to ensuring that councillors' remuneration is published in a more open and standardised way to increase transparency.

Departmental Official Cars

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) civil servants and  (b) special advisers in his Department are entitled to the use of (i) a car with a dedicated driver, (ii) a car from the Government car pool and (iii) a taxi ordered through a departmental account.

Bob Neill: There are no individual, members of staff with Communities and Local Government who have a contractual right to the use of a car with a dedicated driver, a car from the Government car pool or a taxi ordered through a departmental account.

Housing: Construction

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what his policy is on setting minimum standards for space in the home for new residential housing developments;
	(2)  if he will re-introduce the Parker-Morris standards for space in the home in respect of new residential housing developments.

Bob Neill: The Government have not yet decided upon their detailed approach towards the issue of standards for new residential housing developments. It has, however, committed, in the Coalition Government document 'The Coalition: our programme for government', to publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning framework covering all forms of development and setting out national economic, environmental and social priorities. We will set out how we intend to do this in due course. Our abolition of the minimum density target in the revised version of Planning Policy Statement 3 will, however, encourage the greater provision of family homes.

Local Government Finance

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations he has received on proposals for local authorities to issue bonds to raise finance for infrastructure projects; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: The Department has not received any recent representations on this issue. Under the prudential system local authorities are able to borrow for capital projects without Government consent, provided that they can afford the borrowing costs. Authorities are free to choose the source of these loans, and may borrow, should they wish to do so, by issuing bonds. The Government are committed to looking at how greater use could be made by authorities of this way of raising finance.

Planning Permission

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers planning authorities have to penalise persons who have proceeded with unauthorised developments in circumstances where it has been established that the developer was aware of the applicable regulations.

Bob Neill: Local planning authorities have a range of discretionary powers to deal with unauthorised development. Key among these is the issue of an enforcement notice, failure to comply with which is a criminal offence and may lead to prosecution in the courts. The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of up to £20,000 on summary conviction or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. In determining the amount of any fine to be imposed the court shall in particular have regard to any financial benefit which may have accrued or appears likely to accrue to the offender as a consequence of the offence.

Social Rented Housing: Standards

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost of completing the Decent Homes programme in each year from 2011-12.

Andrew Stunell: The estimate of the cost of repairs backlog contained in the council housing finance consultation document is £3.2 billion. Funding for capital investments in council housing post 2010-11 will be decided in the spending review.

Standards Board for England

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects the abolition of the Standards Board for England to take place; and if he will ensure that it is replaced by an effective system for dealing with complaints against members of local authorities.

Bob Neill: We will implement the commitment in our Programme for Government to abolish the Standards Board regime as soon as practicable, and intend to repeal the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000 which established the Standards Board through our Bill to devolve greater powers to councils, announced in the Queen's speech for this session.
	We are committed to the highest levels of standards of behaviour by local authority members and will ensure any devolved regime achieves this.

Subsidence: Ironbridge Gorge

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will allocate funding to the land instability remediation works in the Ironbridge Gorge; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: The allocation of departmental budgets for the whole Parliament will be decided in the spending review, which will be published in the autumn. Departments will then determine how to allocate their resources within their sectors.

Subsidence: Ironbridge Gorge

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has completed its review of the Ironbridge Gorge Land Instability Report produced by Telford and Wrekin Council.

Bob Neill: My Department commissioned Advantage West Midlands to procure consultants (Wardell Armstrong) to verify the nature and scale of the land instability problems in the Ironbridge Gorge. My officials have completed the review of the consultants' report and the long term strategy for addressing the land instability issues in Ironbridge Gorge will be considered in the spending review, which will be published this autumn.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to limit the maximum permissible height for wind turbines located near residential areas.

Bob Neill: We are currently considering proposals for permitted development rights for small scale renewable and low carbon energy technologies and the height limits that might apply, and will set out the next steps on permitted development rights shortly. Looking ahead, we will radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live, based on the principles set out in the Conservative party publication 'Open Source Planning'. In the Coalition Agreement the Government stated that they will publish and present to Parliament a simple and consolidated national planning framework covering all forms of development. We will make an announcement on how we propose to take forward the national planning framework and the implications for specific areas of planning policy.

Working Neighbourhoods Fund

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effects on local authorities with high levels of multiple deprivation of the reduction of funding allocated to the Working Neighbourhoods Fund announced on 10 June 2010.

Bob Neill: The Working Neighbourhoods Fund is paid as part of Area Based Grant. All local authorities that are eligible for Working Neighbourhoods Fund have received a reduction in their Area Based Grant funding. This ensures that councils have the flexibility to take decisions locally on how to deliver the savings needed.
	Where revenue grants to local authorities have been reduced, no local authority will face a reduction of more than 2% overall. It is for local authorities to decide where their priorities and opportunities for efficiencies lie across the totality of their responsibilities.

WALES

Business Relocation

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on encouraging the relocation of businesses to Wales.

David Jones: My right hon. Friend and I view encouraging investment into Wales as one of the key roles of the Wales Office and intend to promote this message across Government and elsewhere.
	As I said in my earlier answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff North (Jonathan Evans) the Secretary of State has already discussed inward investment with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and we will both discuss it with other ministerial colleagues in the weeks and months to come.

National Assembly for Wales

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what timetable has been set for the referendum on further law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales.

Cheryl Gillan: Subject to the approval of Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales, we are aiming for the referendum to be held by the end of the first quarter of next year. It will then be for the people of Wales to decide the outcome of the referendum on further law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales.

Child Trust Fund

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many families in Wales have received payments from the Child Trust Fund since its inception.

David Jones: The latest available statistics show that 179,000 Child Trust Fund accounts have been opened in Wales for children born from 1 September 2002 to 5 April 2008.

Companies House: Nantgarw

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  if she will meet employees of Companies House to discuss the proposed closure of Companies House operations in Nantgarw:
	(2)  whether she plans to visit the offices of Companies House in  (a) Cardiff and  (b) Nantgarw;
	(3)  whether she has had discussions with  (a) the Welsh Assembly Government and  (b) Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council on the decision by Companies House to close its operations at Nantgarw.

Cheryl Gillan: I am naturally concerned for all people in Wales who find themselves in such circumstances, and I have discussed this issue with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. He has assured me that staff are being kept fully informed of developments.
	I understand that the hon. Member met with the chief executive of Companies House on 17 June and I hope that he was similarly reassured.

Departmental Buildings

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether she has authorised any building renovations to Gwydyr House; and whether she plans to make any structural changes to Gwydyr House.

Cheryl Gillan: Gwydyr House has not been subject to refurbishment work for some years and its current poor state of repair is not in keeping with our obligations for managing a Grade II* Listed Building. My officials are currently looking at a number of options to restore Gwydyr House to a state that ensures the building remains structurally safe and provides an acceptable working environment for staff. In addition, work will be undertaken during the summer recess to strengthen the structure of the first floor, which has been dangerously weak for a number of years.

Departmental furniture

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been spent on  (a) office furnishings and  (b) refurbishment for her Department's properties since 12 May 2010.

Cheryl Gillan: There has not been any expenditure on office furnishings or refurbishments since 12 May 2010.

Departmental Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 12W, on departmental manpower, what the salary range is of staff employed at each grade in the private office of each Minister in her Department.

Cheryl Gillan: The salary bands for staff employed in both Private Offices are as follows:
	
		
			  Grade  Salary bands (£) 
			   S of S office  PUSS office 
			 Senior Civil Service 58,200-117,800 - 
			 Higher Executive Officer-Fast Stream 25,700-33,200 - 
			 Senior Executive Officer - 38,662-47,496 
			 Executive Officer 22,755-28,000 22,755-28,000 
			 Admin Officer 20,754-25,023 -

Departmental Public Expenditure

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  how many of her Department's contracts with its suppliers are under review as a result of the recently announced reductions in public expenditure; and what the monetary value is of all such contracts which are under review;
	(2)  how many officials in her Department are working on renegotiating contracts for the supply of goods and services to the Department as a result of recently announced reductions in public spending; what savings are expected to accrue to her Department from such renegotiations; how much expenditure her Department will incur on such renegotiations; and when such renegotiations will be completed.

Cheryl Gillan: The Wales Office is a separate entity within the Ministry of Justice, and uses their centralised contracts. Wales Office staff take no direct role in any negotiations but my department will benefit from any savings gained.

Devolution

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many times she has met Members of the European Parliament representing Wales since her appointment; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Cheryl Gillan: I have met one Welsh MEP, exchanged correspondence with another MEP and my private office is still waiting to find a mutually convenient date to meet them all in the near future.

Economic Situation

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions she has had with CBI Wales on the state of the Welsh economy.

Cheryl Gillan: I have had initial meetings with several Welsh business organisations, including CBI Wales, who I addressed last Friday in Cardiff. I intend to have further such meetings in the weeks and months ahead in order to forge constructive working relationships with these key stakeholders in the Welsh economy.

RAF St Athan

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions she has had with the Deputy First Minister of Wales on the effects on the economy in Wales of the proposed St. Athan Defence Training Academy.

Cheryl Gillan: I have met the Deputy First Minister on several occasions since I took office. Discussions focussed on a range of issues affecting Wales.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Algeria: Foreign Relations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage bi-lateral relations with Algeria.

Alistair Burt: The UK already enjoys a good bilateral relationship with Algeria. There is established cooperation on trade, migration, counter-terrorism and energy and our two countries have signed agreements in areas of judicial cooperation, migration and defence relations. Recently we have worked closely together at the UN to deter the payment of ransoms for hostages to terrorist groups and at the Conference on Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference and I look forward to discussing further action in areas of mutual interest with my Algerian counterparts over the coming months.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Burmese government on the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Jeremy Browne: I raised Burma with ASEAN Ministers at the EU-ASEAN Ministerial on 26 May 2010 at which the Burmese Foreign Minister was present. I made clear that without the release and participation of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's elections will not be free and fair. The subsequent summit statement reflected the EU's concern. To mark Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday, my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I called on the military regime to end her detention. Our ambassador in Rangoon repeatedly raises the need for the release of prisoners of conscience, including Aung San Suu Kyi, with Ministers in the Burmese military government. We will continue to raise the plight of Burma's political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi through the EU, with Burma's neighbours, and we will highlight the issue in the UN Security Council and UN's human rights bodies. We endorse the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's recent observation that the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is illegal and in violation of international human rights law.

Colombia: Political Prisoners

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the number of political prisoners being held in Colombia.

Jeremy Browne: We have not received any recent reports on the number of political prisoners held in Colombia.

Departmental Reviews

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer by the Leader of the House of 8 June 2010,  Official Report, column 137W, on Government departments: reviews, what reviews are being undertaken by his Department; for what purpose in each case; and on what timescale.

David Lidington: The Coalition Agreement sets out in detail the Government's future plans, including the key reviews it will be undertaking. My Department will bring forward detailed information about these reviews in due course.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 19W, on departmental manpower, what the salary range is of staff employed at each grade in  (a) the London office and  (b) the central support staff team.

Owen Paterson: The salary range for staff employed in the joint Private Office in London and the central support staff team in Belfast is set out as follows.
	
		
			  London Office and central support staff (Belfast) 
			   Salary range 
			 A £40,966-£54,838 
			 B1 £31,013-£38,893 
			 B2 £24,816-£30,520 
			 C £18,336-£26,086 
			 D1 £15,348-£17,099 
			 D2 £13,543-£14,756 
		
	
	London based staff are paid an additional sum of £4,400 per annum for London Weighting.
	Belfast based staff receive an additional revised environmental allowance payment of £287 per annum.

State Retirement Pensions

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are in receipt of the state pension.

Owen Paterson: This is a devolved matter which is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Minister for Social Development whose department sponsors the Social Security Agency.

Terrorism

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received a security assessment of the murder of a man on the Shankill Road, Belfast on 28 May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Owen Paterson: I receive regular security assessments from my security advisers. The murder of Bobby Moffet on the Shankill Road on 28 May is subject to an ongoing police investigation and I do not wish to make any further comment on it at this time.

JUSTICE

Marriage: Homosexuality

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to allow civil weddings and partnership ceremonies to include religious readings, music and symbols.

Lynne Featherstone: I have been asked to reply.
	Currently, same-sex couples can enter a civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which gives them the opportunity to obtain legal recognition of their relationship. Couples who register their civil partnerships gain vital rights and protections, similar to married couples. Civil partnership registrations are entirely secular in nature and, as with civil marriage, prohibited from taking place on religious premises, or containing any religious language. An amendment made to the Equality Act 2010 removed the express prohibition on civil partnerships taking place on religious premises.
	This Government are committed to supporting civil partnerships. This week, the Prime Minister launched Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality, an ambitious programme of work to tackle outdated prejudices and ensure equal chances for everyone, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity. It contains a commitment to talk to those with a key interest in this issue about what the next stage should be for civil partnerships, including how some religious organisations can allow same-sex couples the opportunity to register their relationship in a religious setting if they wish to do so.

Prisons: Drugs

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements are in place for rehabilitation of drug addicts in prisons in England and Wales.

Crispin Blunt: NOMS has in place a drug treatment framework, based on the National Treatment Agency's revised Models of Care, to address the needs of drug misusing prisoners. The interventions available are designed to meet the needs of low, moderate and severe drug misusers - irrespective of age, gender or ethnicity. Core elements of the framework are available in all adult prisons across England and Wales. Higher intensity services are available in selected sites according to the drug treatment needs offenders.
	The interventions are comprised of:
	Clinical services, detoxification and/or maintenance prescribing;
	CARATs (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare service) - specialist support and advice services that, following assessment, deliver psychosocial interventions, treatment and support. CARATs are available in all adult prisons in England and Wales and take the lead Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) role in prisons, engaging with prison Resettlement teams and Criminal Justice Integrated Teams (CJITs) in the community;
	Drug Rehabilitation Programmes - There are 113 drug rehabilitation programmes running in 96 establishments. Prisons provide a range of drug rehabilitation programmes that vary in programme length - from four weeks (Short Duration Programme) to more than a year (therapeutic communities).
	The intensive drug treatment programmes available in prison can be split into four main categories:
	The cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
	The 12-Step approach
	Therapeutic Communities (TCs)
	Short Duration Programme (SDP)
	This Government believe that more can be done to cut drug related reoffending by overhauling the system of rehabilitation. We are considering how sentencing and treatment for drug use can help offenders to come off drugs once and for all. This includes the exploration of alternative secure treatment based accommodation.

Prisons: Religion

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons report on experiences of Muslim prisoners cost to produce.

Crispin Blunt: This material for this review was gathered between February 2009 and June 2010, during which time the inspectorate also produced 14 other thematic reviews, 132 inspection reports of prisons, young offender institutions, immigration detention facilities and police custody, as well as a range of other work. The report drew on material gained in the course of the Inspectorate's normal inspection activity with some further research by inspectorate staff. For this reason, it is not possible to produce discrete costings for this review.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 3W, on departmental manpower, what the salary range is of staff employed at each grade in the private office of each Minister in his Department.

David Mundell: All staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment, mainly from the Ministry of Justice or the Scottish Government. There are currently four full-time staff in the Secretary of State for Scotland's office and two full-time staff in the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's office. There are also three other full time staff in the Private Office. They are all employees of the Ministry of Justice. Detailed information relating to salary ranges by grade is available from the Ministry of Justice.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people convicted of crimes in which alcohol was a contributory factor in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire: The data requested on crimes where alcohol is a contributory factor is not collected centrally.

Children

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of mothers of babies classified by the police as having been abandoned who were subsequently re-united with their babies in each of the last five years.

Nick Herbert: The requested data are not collected centrally.
	Although the Home Office collects data on the number of offences of abandoning a child under the age of two years recorded by the police, the Home Office does not collect related data on the number of these children who are subsequently re-united with their mothers.

Closed Circuit Television

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has for the future regulation of closed circuit television; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa May: holding answer 22 June 2010
	In our Coalition programme for Government, we have stated that we will further regulate CCTV. We will bring forward proposals in due course.

Demonstrations: Barking

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports she has received on disturbances to public order during the parade by the 1st Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment at Barking on 15 June 2010.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 22 June 2010
	The Metropolitan police inform me there were three arrests for public order offences during the parade by the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglican Regiment in Barking on 15 June.

Departmental Manpower

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her estimate is of the cost to the public purse of proposed reductions in numbers of non-front line staff in her Department and its agencies.

Nick Herbert: We do not yet have a precise estimate of the reductions in non-frontline staff which will be needed this year. But we will be seeking to minimise the costs of those reductions, by using, in the first instance, recruitment freezes and normal turnover.

Departmental Official Cars

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the use by Ministers in her Department of cars allocated from  (a) her Department's pool and  (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in her Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Mike Penning) on 14 June 2010,  Official Report, column 290W.

DNA: Databases

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions for serious offences attributable to evidence held on the National DNA database there have been since the database's inception.

James Brokenshire: Data on the number of convictions obtained in which DNA match evidence from the National DNA Database (NDNAD) was a contributory factor are not collected centrally.
	However, data are available on the number of detections in which a DNA match was available. Table 1 shows the number of serious crimes detected in which a DNA match was available for each year from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Data are not available for earlier years.
	The figures do not include: additional detections where an offender admits further offences following a detection for which a DNA match was available; or crimes detected as a result of one-off speculative searches of the NDNAD or from comparing DNA profiles in a forensic laboratory, procedures which are used mainly in the investigation of serious crimes such as murder and rape. Consequently, the figures provided in Table 1 under-represent the overall contribution of DNA matches to the detection of serious crimes such as murder and rape. It is also important to note that convictions are obtained through integrated criminal investigation, not through DNA evidence alone.
	The source of the figures provided is the forensic performance data, which are collected by the Home Office from police forces. The figures for 2009-10 are not yet available.
	The data provided are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
	
		
			  Detections of crimes in which a DNA match was available 
			  Serious crime categories  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Homicide 77 88 83 70 
			 Rape 223 195 184 168 
			 Other sex offences 115 84 64 106 
			 Other violent offences 754 790 849 861 
			 Robbery 584 547 617 603 
			  Notes: 1. A 'detection' means that the crime was cleared up and a DNA match was available. 2. The police data on forensic activity uses 12 broad crime categories. 3. The five crime categories listed above broadly equate to 'serious crime'. 4. The other seven categories of the forensic activity data (not shown) broadly equate to less serious crime e.g. burglary, vehicle offences, criminal damage, drugs offences etc. 5. The table gives data only for 'Detections in which a DNA match is available'. It does not include 'Additional detections where an offender admits further offences following a detection for which a DNA match was available'. 6 The 'Other violent offences' category of the forensic activity data include violence offences both with injury and with no injury. In the Recorded Crime Statistics, approx half of the crimes in the category 'Violence against the Person' (excluding homicide) are violence offences with no injury. It is likely that a similar proportion of the 'Other violent offences' category of the forensic activity data shown above are also offences with no injury.  Source:  Police data on forensic activity and detections

Drugs and Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take with local communities to reduce the level of drug- and alcohol-related crime.

James Brokenshire: The Government are committed to tackling drug and alcohol related crime wherever it occurs. Based upon the Coalition Programme for Government, a cross-department review of drugs policy is underway.
	UK drug laws already provide the opportunity for criminal justice interventions with problem drug misusers to contribute to reducing drug misuse and drug-related crime. We will conduct a full review of sentencing policy to ensure that it is effective in deterring crime, protecting the public, punishing offenders and cutting reoffending. In particular, we will ensure that sentencing for drug use helps offenders come off drugs. In addition, we will explore alternative forms of secure, treatment-based accommodation for drugs offenders.
	As clearly set out in the Coalition Agreement, we will also introduce a system of temporary bans on new emerging 'legal highs' to protect the public, especially young people, from drug harms and to combat unscrupulous manufacturers and suppliers who target young people In the Coalition Agreement the Government set out a clear programme of reform around alcohol licensing to tackle the crime and antisocial behaviour that is too often associated with binge drinking in the night-time economy. In particular, the Government set out six specific commitments. The Government will:
	overhaul the Licensing Act to give local authorities and the police much stronger powers to remove licences from, or refuse to grant licences to, any premises that are causing problems;
	allow councils and the police to shut down permanently any shop or bar found to be persistently selling alcohol to children;
	double the maximum fine for under-age alcohol sales to £20,000;
	permit local councils to charge more for late-night licences to pay for additional policing;
	ban the sale of alcohol below cost price;
	review alcohol taxation and pricing to ensure it tackles binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for student visas were  (a) granted and  (b) refused in 2009; and how many such applications from each country of origin have been (i) granted and (ii) refused in 2010 to date.

Damian Green: The total number of student visas(1) issued and refused in 2009 was 303,635 and 104,536, respectively. The number of student visas issued and refused in the first Quarter of 2010 by nationality of the applicant is shown in the following table:
	(1) Excludes student visitors
	
		
			  Student visa applications: Main applicants January to March 2010 
			  Nationality  Applications  Issued  Refused 
			 Afghanistan 106 66 45 
			 Albania 84 45 41 
			 Algeria 103 68 48 
			 Andorra 0 0 0 
			 Angola 63 53 21 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 1 1 0 
			 Argentina 28 28 7 
			 Armenia 12 9 4 
			 Australia 74 81 12 
			 Azerbaijan 53 31 22 
			 Bahamas 6 5 4 
			 Bahrain 91 79 13 
			 Bangladesh 7,558 5,024 2,617 
			 Barbados 7 9 0 
			 Belarus 19 13 7 
			 Belize 1 1 1 
			 Benin 2 2 0 
			 Bhutan 4 3 3 
			 Bolivia 13 11 5 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 13 9 3 
			 Botswana 25 18 6 
			 Brazil 756 638 125 
			 British national overseas 65 56 24 
			 Brunei 29 25 3 
			 Burkina 5 4 2 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 150 65 133 
			 Burundi 3 2 1 
			 Cambodia 14 7 6 
			 Cameroon 198 123 102 
			 Canada 141 122 19 
			 Cape Verde 2 0 2 
			 Central African Republic 2 0 2 
			 Chad 2 1 1 
			 Chile 57 50 9 
			 China 2,414 2,192 2,461 
			 Colombia 1,229 957 2,52 
			 Comoros 3 2 1 
			 Congo 24 4 25 
			 Costa Rica 3 3 0 
			 Croatia 22 12 9 
			 Cuba 2 1 1 
			 Cyprus 0 1 1 
			 Democratic republic of Congo 21 7 16 
			 Djibouti 5 0 5 
			 Dominica 3 2 1 
			 Dominican Republic 5 5 0 
			 Ecuador 51 37 19 
			 Egypt 153 79 50 
			 El Salvador 1 0 0 
			 Equatorial Guinea 12 9 3 
			 Eritrea 1 0 1 
			 Ethiopia 13 11 4 
			 Gabon 6 0 6 
			 Gambia 75 44 30 
			 Georgia 54 37 22 
			 Germany 2 1 0 
			 Ghana 137 78 88 
			 Grenada 3 4 0 
			 Guatemala 3 1 3 
			 Guinea 21 9 12 
			 Guyana 5 3 3 
			 Haiti 2 0 1 
			 Honduras 3 4 0 
			 Hong Kong 119 102 24 
			 Hungary 1 0 0 
			 India 18,188 9,231 8,257 
			 Indonesia 89 66 39 
			 Iran 730 390 328 
			 Iraq 70 37 30 
			 Israel 30 16 13 
			 Ivory Coast 25 6 22 
			 Jamaica 11 8 3 
			 Japan 945 871 73 
			 Jordan 132 88 48 
			 Kazakhstan 120 154 40 
			 Kenya 131 72 69 
			 Kosovo 19 8 11 
			 Kuwait 144 129 23 
			 Kyrgyzstan 38 13 31 
			 Laos 1 1 0 
			 Lebanon 52 38 26 
			 Lesotho 11 5 6 
			 Liberia 1 1 2 
			 Libya 651 605 57 
			 Macau 7 6 1 
			 Macedonia 32 24 8 
			 Madagascar 6 3 2 
			 Malawi 29 15 17 
			 Malaysia 390 300 101 
			 Maldives 2 0 2 
			 Mali 13 6 8 
			 Mauritania 7 2 5 
			 Mauritius 86 72 20 
			 Mexico 149 106 82 
			 Moldova 6 4 5 
			 Mongolia 119 58 135 
			 Montenegro 6 4 2 
			 Morocco 135 88 45 
			 Mozambique 4 4 0 
			 Namibia 4 2 2 
			 Nauru 3 0 1 
			 Nepal 2,807 7,42 1,105 
			 New Zealand 18 22 3 
			 Nicaragua 2 2 0 
			 Niger 3 1 2 
			 Nigeria 2,468 1,716 1,082 
			 Oman 72 70 7 
			 Pakistan 9,195 5,154 4,585 
			 Panama 2 1 2 
			 Papua New Guinea 1 1 0 
			 Peru 50 44 16 
			 Philippines 3,481 1,071 1,002 
			 Qatar 96 95 7 
			 Russia 224 163 100 
			 Rwanda 28 16 12 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 0 0 0 
			 Saudi Arabia 1,896 1,657 263 
			 Senegal 62 36 26 
			 Serbia 31 23 9 
			 Seychelles 4 3 1 
			 Sierra Leone 32 16 21 
			 Singapore 53 40 16 
			 Somalia 6 1 4 
			 South Africa 99 60 35 
			 South Korea 1,562 1,605 1,29 
			 Sri Lanka 2,848 1,905 1,086 
			 St Kitts and Nevis 0 1 0 
			 St Lucia 8 7 3 
			 St Vincent 4 4 0 
			 Stateless (art one 1951 convention) 1 1 0 
			 Sudan 38 21 18 
			 Swaziland 2 1 1 
			 Syria 88 43 53 
			 Taiwan 276 272 24 
			 Tajikistan 3 2 3 
			 Tanzania 130 67 89 
			 Thailand 747 565 129 
			 Togo 9 3 5 
			 Tonga 1 2 0 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 29 19 12 
			 Tunisia 20 14 8 
			 Turkey 1,427 1,070 429 
			 Turkmenistan 77 47 30 
			 Uganda 56 37 35 
			 Ukraine 72 56 33 
			 United Arab Emirates 163 154 9 
			 United nations 0 1 0 
			 United states 748 788 98 
			 Unspecified Nationality 3 2 3 
			 Uruguay 3 3 1 
			 Uzbekistan 82 37 68 
			 Venezuela 85 59 36 
			 Vietnam 369 262 106 
			 Refugee 1951 Convention 11 4 6 
			 Hong Kong 8 8 2 
			 Palestinian Authority 45 25 24 
			 Yemen 93 35 49 
			 Yugoslavia 4 3 2 
			 Zambia 60 26 29 
			 Zimbabwe 32 17 19 
			 Total 66,200 40,787 26,677 
		
	
	The data in this table is based on Management Information and as such has not been quality assured. It is provisional and subject to change.

Identity Cards

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much the Identity and Passport Service has received in application fees for identity cards from applicants in  (a) the UK,  (b) the North West and  (c) Greater Manchester.

Damian Green: The Identity and Passport Service received total income of £196,000 from the issue of identity cards in the financial year 2009-10. It is not possible to provide information relating to particular constituencies or regions for identity card applications.

Immigration: Appeals

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of (a) first and (b) second tier immigration appeals were allowed in each year since 2005.

Damian Green: The following figures provide the proportions of immigration appeals both including and excluding asylum.
	Between April 2005 and February 2010, the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) operated a single tier system; a First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) did not exist, so it has been assumed that:
	'first tier' refers to appeals determined by immigration adjudicators/judges; and
	'second tier' refers to appeals to the Tribunal/Reconsideration Hearings.
	 (a) The proportions of immigration appeals determined by immigration adjudicators/judges for 2005 to 2008 that were allowed are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of appellants 
			   Total appeals determined by immigration adjudicators/judges  Allowed  Allowed as percentage of determined 
			  Excluding asylum appeals
			 2005 66,805 24,795 37 
			 2006 151,355 51,320 34 
			 2007 139,880 44,985 32 
			 2008(1) 157,115 54,265 35 
			 
			  Including asylum appeals
			 2005 100,250 30,400 30 
			 2006 167,310 54,860 33 
			 2007 154,825 48,370 31 
			 2008(1) 167,835 56,740 34 
			 (1) Provisional figures.  Note: Data rounded to the nearest 5.  Source: Data for January to March 2005: Home Office Presenting Officers; April 2005 to December 2008: Tribunal Service, Draft AIT Business Plan April 2009 
		
	
	This data is available on page 88 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2008 available from:
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	Data for 2009 is due to be published on 26 August 2010.
	 (b) The proportion of appeals to the Tribunal/Reconsideration Hearings for 2005 to 2008 that were allowed are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of appellants (except January to March 2005, number of persons bringing the onward appeal) 
			   Total appeals to the tribunal/reconsideration hearings determined  Allowed  Allowed as percentage of determined 
			  Excluding asylum appeals
			 2005 1,935 600 31 
			 2006 2,915 1,095 38 
			 2007 6,510 2,880 44 
			 2008(1) 6,140 2,995 49 
			 
			  Including asylum appeals
			 2005 9,685 2,050 21 
			 2006 7,320 2,380 33 
			 2007 10,305 4,330 42 
			 2008(1) 8,805 4,075 46 
			 (1) Provisional figures.  Note: Data rounded to the nearest 5.  Source: Data for January 2005 to September 2006: Business Plan March 2008; April 2005 to December 2008: Tribunal Service, Draft AIT Business Plan April 2009 
		
	
	This data has not previously been published. The data has been taken from the Draft AIT Business Plan April 2009 to be consistent with the data provided for part  (a).

Police: Chauffeur-driven Cars

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many chief constables have chauffeur-driven cars; and at what total cost to the public purse.

Nick Herbert: This information is not held centrally. Arrangements as to cars and drivers are matters for individual police authorities and chief constables to decide.

Police: Elections

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the merits of a cap on election expenses for candidates for posts as directly-elected police commissioners.

Nick Herbert: The Government have made no decisions yet on this issue. Electoral arrangements for directly elected individuals will be considered as the Government prepared for the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill this autumn.

Police: Elections

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the merits of different methods of election of directly-elected police commissioners.

Nick Herbert: The Government have made no decisions yet on this issue. Electoral arrangements for directly elected individuals will be considered as the Government prepares for the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill this autumn.

Police: Finance

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on the effects of a council tax freeze on police precepts.

Nick Herbert: It is agreed Government policy that council tax will be frozen for at least one year, and we will seek to freeze it for a further year, in partnership with local authorities. A further announcement will follow in due course.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement of 24 May 2010 and pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 69W, on public expenditure: Wales, if she will provide details of her Department's non-devolved public expenditure savings that will be incurred in Wales, including an estimate of the financial savings.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 17 June 2010
	The Home Office made a contribution of £367 million to the £6 billion in-year public expenditure savings announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 24 May. These savings were focused on the back office and lower-value spend. The majority of these reductions were made to the cost of the Home Office and its agencies but there was also some impact on the police, which should be met by efficiency savings and savings found from within discretionary non-frontline spend. We are confident that forces can manage these reductions whilst leaving the frontline of policing strong and secure.
	Police funding for 2010-11 has been reduced by a total of £135 million of which £125 million was comprised of reductions to the core police grant and police capital grant. The details for Welsh forces is set out as follows. This information was laid before the House in a written ministerial statement on 27 May 2010,  Official Report, columns 12-16WS. This reduction is equivalent to less than 1% expected total police spending this year.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2010-11 Home Office police grant as agreed Feb ruary  2010  Amended 2010-11 Home Office police grant  Capital grant as notified January 2010  Amended 2010-11 capital grant 
			 Dyfed-Powys 35.2 34.4 1.0 0.9 
			 Gwent 48.6 47.5 1.4 1.3 
			 North Wales 48.5 47.4 1.5 1.4 
			 South Wales 105.5 102.9 3.0 2.8 
			 Welsh total 237.8 232.2 6.9 6.4 
		
	
	The remaining £10 million of the £135 million relates to a reduction in policing counter terrorism grants spread across England and Wales. This reduction was applied to forces in both England and Wales on the advice of ACPO (TAM) and agreed by the Home Office. The specific allocation of these grants is not put into the public domain for reasons of national security.
	No other reductions have been made to Home Office budgets in 2010-11 which would have a specific impact on Wales.

Sexual Offences: Registration

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government plans to take in response to the Supreme Court's judgement on R (on the application of F (by his litigation friend F)) and Thompson (FC) (Respondents)  v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant); and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: We are considering the Supreme Court's judgment carefully before deciding on the most appropriate action. In the meantime, registered sex offenders will still have to comply with the notification requirements as they currently stand.

UK Border Agency

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases were raised with the UK Border Agency by each hon. Member between May 2005 and May 2010.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency only has central records of inquiries from hon. Members that are made in writing to Ministers or direct to the agency's MPs' liaison unit; e-mails to the central MPs inquiry e-mail address and phone calls to the MPs' inquiry line. These records date back to the start of 2007 so information on the number of inquiries made between May 2005 and December 2006 are not available.
	The table placed in the House Library shows the number of inquiries made by hon. Members each year from 2007 to 31 May 2010. The number of written inquiries includes letters written to Ministers, direct to the UK Border Agency as well as e-mails received by the agency.
	The data have been manually reconciled from correspondence and telephone inquiry management systems.

War Crimes: Universal Jurisdiction

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received on the applicability of universal jurisdiction to representatives of foreign governments accused of war crimes travelling to the UK; and what steps the Government plans to take on the matter.

Damian Green: The Home Secretary has not received representations on this matter, which is the responsibility of the Justice Secretary.
	The purpose of asserting universal jurisdiction, as we have done in relation to war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act and a few other offences of exceptional gravity, is to ensure that there is no impunity for those accused of such crimes. But it is important that universal jurisdiction cases should be taken only on the basis of solid evidence that is likely to lead to a successful prosecution, and the Government are considering how to secure that outcome.

Wickham Research Laboratories: Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2010,  Official Report, column 230W, on Wickham Research Laboratories: animal experiments, when she expects to be in a position to consider the findings of the review.

Lynne Featherstone: I expect to receive the report by 5 July 2010 and will publish the results when I have considered its findings.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral statement of 14 June 2010,  Official Report, columns 663-6, on Afghanistan, whether the £67 million announced is to fund counter-improvised explosive device teams in addition to those which were planned by the previous government.

Liam Fox: holding answer 21 June 2010
	The Prime Minister confirmed, in his statement on 14 June, that an additional £67 million will be made available for resources to counter the threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This £67 million will be made available to fund a commitment made by the previous Government that was never fully funded. This is new money-over and above funding that has already been approved-and will allow us to equip a significantly increased number of specialist counter-IED teams, and generate increased capacity to mitigate the threat from IEDs.

Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many animals of each species were used in scientific procedures undertaken under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which were commissioned directly by his Department in each year since 2004.

Peter Luff: DSTL returns the numbers of procedures undertaken involving animals at DSTL Porton Down to the Home Office on an annual basis, the numbers of procedures returned for last five years are detailed in the following table. This is the only Home Office designated defence establishment. DSTL has an ongoing initiative to reduce the use of animals in the scientific research programme.
	
		
			  Number of DSTL procedures returned to the Home Office 
			   Guinea pig  Ferret  Mouse  Pig  Rabbit  Rat  Sheep  Non-human primate  Total 
			 2005 661 60 20,016 127 3 195 2 54 21,118 
			 2006 545 0 15,986 123 0 335 4 52 17,045 
			 2007 647 0 17,095 74 5 359 2 75 18,257 
			 2008 254 0 10,404 113 2 549 0 55 11,380 
			 2009 190 0 7,698 96 30 5 0 149 8,168

Animal Experiments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Ethical Review Committee at Porton Down is in operation.

Peter Luff: Yes.

Armed Forces

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of members of each of the armed services are normally resident in  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland and  (d) Northern Ireland.

Andrew Robathan: The information is not held in the format requested. The vast majority of service personnel will live near to where they are stationed during their normal duty hours but may travel to other areas during off duty periods such as weekends or leave periods. The following table provides information on the permanent location of service personnel stationed in United Kingdom at 1 April 2010.
	
		
			   Naval Service  Percentage of members  Army  Percentage of members  Royal Air Force  Percentage of members 
			 England 33,160 86 77,400 71 36,740 83 
			 Wales 160 0.4 1,730 2 1,040 2 
			 Scotland 4,370 11 3,330 3 4,370 10 
			 Northern Ireland 30 0.08 3,870 4 230 0.5 
		
	
	The table does not include those individual on permanent non-operational postings outside the UK. Personnel on operational deployments will be shown against their most recent station.

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what his policy is on mental health screening for serving military personnel;
	(2)  whether he has assessed the merits of the establishment of an NHS post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programme for military personnel.

Andrew Robathan: The Government take mental health issues extremely seriously, and our Programme for Government makes clear that we will provide extra support for ex-service personnel. The Prime Minister has asked Dr Andrew Murrison MP to carry out a study into the health of both serving and ex-service personnel to see what more can be done to assess and meet these needs; a focus of this study will be mental health.
	We are examining a number of ways to develop mental health support for the armed forces, including screening or surveillance techniques.
	The Ministry of Defence is also working closely with the Department of Health so that we can better co-ordinate the way we treat ex-service personnel with mental health problems. As part of the military covenant review we will look into how we can better support combat stress and other charities that do such excellent work to support those suffering after service.

Armed Forces: Per Capita Costs

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on requests from the private sector for the use of military personnel for which the payment of capitation rates would be applicable.

Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence does not routinely provide military personnel to the private sector. Any request from the private sector for the use of military personnel and the subsequent cost recovery would be considered on a case by case basis, ensuring there is no operational impact.

Armed Forces: Per Capita Costs

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the setting of his Department's military manpower capitation rates takes into account  (a) past trends and  (b) likely future consumption rates.

Nick Harvey: Ministry of Defence manpower capitation rates are calculated on the basis of actual rates for pay, employer's national insurance contributions and notional superannuation contributions plus an uplift for administration costs.

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what intervals the Atomic Weapons Establishment's Nuclear Safety Committee met in the last 12 months; and what the names are of the committee members.

Peter Luff: Meetings of the Atomic Weapons Establishment's Nuclear Safety Committee are held on a monthly basis. Additional meetings are held as required in response to business requirements, but no such meetings have been required in the last 12 months.
	With regard to the names of the committee members, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Colombia: Military Aid

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military aid his Department provided to Colombia in the last 12 months.

Nick Harvey: The UK has an on-going programme of counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia. It would not be appropriate to provide details about this programme, as to do so would prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
	In addition to this, in December 2009 the Ministry of Defence hosted a visit to the UK by a small Colombian delegation supporting their preparations to deploy to Afghanistan as part of the ISAF coalition.

Defence

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what mechanism has been put in place for the submission of opinions as part of the Strategic Security and Defence Review.

Liam Fox: I refer the hon. Member to my opening speech in the debate on the Strategic Defence and Security Review on 21 June,  Official Report, column 52.

Departmental Manpower

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) front-line and  (b) other staff were employed by (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in the latest year for which figures are available; and what his most recent estimate is of the annual cost to the public purse of employing staff of each type at each of those bodies.

Liam Fox: We do not distinguish between frontline and non-frontline staff. Information in this format could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of staff employed, and their cost, is published annually in the Ministry of Defence's and defence Trading Funds' Annual Reports and Accounts. Copies of the reports for 2008-09 have been placed in the Library of the House (see note 9, starting on page 217). The figures for 2009-10 are intended for future publication in the 2009-10 Departmental and Trading Fund Annual Reports and Accounts, which are due to be laid before the House by the Summer Recess.
	Statistics on numbers of military personnel and civilian personnel are also published on a monthly and quarterly basis respectively on the DASA website
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	Decisions on how many military and civilian personnel we need for the future will be made in the context of the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Iran: Sanctions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what Royal Navy assets will be allocated to the imposition of sanctions against Iran;
	(2)  whether the Royal Navy will be used to stop and search vessels bound for Iran as part of the enforcement of sanctions.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 21 June 2010
	For security reasons, we do not as a matter of routine comment on the operational assignments of UK military units. The Government continue to develop a robust response to UNSCR 1929 in accordance with international law.

Military Aircraft

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what change there has been in the number of UK military airframes available to commanders in the last three years.

Peter Luff: Officials are collating the information requested, across the armed forces, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly when this work is complete.
	 Substantive answer from Peter Luff to Derek Twigg:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 15 June, (Official Report, column 350W) about the number of airframes available to the armed forces.
	The number of airframes available to the armed forces at the end of May 2007 and May 2010 was 1,474 and 1,490 respectively; the figures include fixed and rotary wing aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft. The numbers provided are for the Effective Fleet which comprises all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.

Nuclear Weapons

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his re-examination of the UK declaratory nuclear policy will include consideration of compliance with the commitments in the final document of the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Liam Fox: The Strategic Defence and Security Review will examine all relevant elements of the UK's nuclear declaratory policy. It is not the purpose of this review to examine compliance with the Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon), which sets out action plans for the international community to make progress against the three pillars of the NPT. The outcome of the NPT RevCon was a good result, and the Government fully support the Chairman's record and agreed action plan from the NPT RevCon.

Nuclear Weapons

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 511W, on Trident, what the re-examination of the UK's declaratory nuclear policy will include; and what issues related to the replacement of Trident in addition to value for money issues will be considered within the framework of the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Liam Fox: The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) will re-examine all the constituent parts that together form the UK's declaratory nuclear policy. This will be done against a background of the political and security environment facing the UK.
	In addition to the Trident value for money review, the SDSR will look at wider maritime and other conventional forces required to support the nuclear deterrent and the sustainability of the UK submarine industrial base.

RAF Kinloss

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents there have been involving wildlife on the runways at RAF Kinloss in each of the last five years.

Nick Harvey: The number of incidents involving wildlife on the runway at RAF Kinloss over the last five years are shown in the table:
	
		
			   Number of incidents 
			 2005 2 
			 2006 2 
			 2007 3 
			 2008 1 
			 2009 3

Trident

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment will be made of the merits of alternatives to the Trident successor deterrent programme in his Trident value for money review; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Fox: The alternatives to a submarine launched ballistic missile submarine have previously been analysed comprehensively and discounted, either because they could not provide an effective deterrent capability or because they cost more. The value for money study is reviewing the existing plan for the Trident successor.

Warships

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ships of each class there are in the Royal Navy.

Peter Luff: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Aircraft Carriers 3 
			 Amphibious Ships 3 
			 Type 42 Destroyers 5 
			 Type 45 Destroyers 2 
			 Type 22 Frigates 4 
			 Type 23 Frigates 13 
			 Antarctic Patrol Ship 1 
			 Hunt Class Minehunters 8 
			 Sandown Class Minehunters 8 
			 Survey Ships 4 
			 Offshore Patrol Vessel 1 
			 River Class Patrol Vessels 3 
			 Gibraltar Squadron 2 
			 Faslane Squadron 2 
			 Archer Class Fast Training Boats (University Royal Navy Units) 14 
		
	
	In addition, the Royal Navy has 11 submarines (ballistic and fleet).

EDUCATION

Academies

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many full-time equivalent civil servants in his Department are engaged in work on policy development and programme delivery in relation to academy schools.

Michael Gove: There are currently around 115 civil servants in the Department for Education engaged directly in work on policy development and programme delivery related to academy schools. There is a substantial number of other civil servants in the Department who make a significant contribution to policy development and programme delivery related to academy schools as part of their wider role. In addition there are 47 staff in the Young People's Learning Agency involved in funding and supporting open academies.

Departmental Manpower

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his estimate is of the cost to the public purse of proposed reductions in numbers of non-frontline staff in his Department and its agencies.

Michael Gove: The Department for Education is subject to the same recruitment restrictions as all other Government Departments. It has not yet identified any necessary additional reductions to its non-frontline staff and therefore cannot provide any estimate in relation to cost.
	The cost to the Department of any release payments this year will be disclosed in the Department's resource accounts for 2010/11.

Departmental Reorganisation

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has  (a) taken on new responsibilities and  (b) transferred responsibilities to other departments since its renaming.

Michael Gove: The Department for Education has retained the same responsibilities for schools, children services and families-the renaming reflects the new Department's core purpose of supporting teaching and learning. At the same time we remain committed to supporting children and families, so that all can achieve their potential. We are clear that whilst school reform is a priority so is strengthening and reforming children's services. We are determined to give parents more support and make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe.
	The only change to the Department's responsibilities since the renaming is the agreement with the Justice Secretary that the Ministry of Justice would have sole responsibility for youth justice in the new coalition Government. Responsibility for youth justice was previously shared between departments supported by a Joint Youth Justice Unit. We agreed that it was important that one Department, the Ministry of Justice, was clearly accountable for this important area of reform.

Carers: Children

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his most recent estimate is of the number of grandparents and extended kin providing unpaid care for children in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah Teather: The Department does not collect figures on the numbers of grandparents and extended kin who provide child care. However in 2008, the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents found that: 26% of all families had used grandparents to provide child care; 5% had used an older sibling; and, 6% had used another relative. The number of families in 2008 using informal childcare as a whole (which included grandparents, ex-partners, older siblings, other relatives and a friend or neighbour) was estimated at 2,116,000.

TREASURY

Debts: Interest Charges

Kate Hoey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue that would be raised in 2010-11 if the tax deductibility of interest payments on debt were removed from  (a) financial and  (b) private non-financial corporations.

David Gauke: The revenue that would be accrued in 2010-11 if the tax deductibility of net interest payments on debt were removed for private non-financial corporations is estimated to be around £5.5 billion. No estimate has been made for financial corporations.

Northern Rock

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the eligibility for compensation of former shareholders in Northern Rock consequent upon the transfer of shares to public ownership.

Mark Hoban: The Northern Rock plc Compensation Scheme Order 2008 provides that the compensation payable to
	persons who held shares in Northern Rock immediately before they were transferred by the Transfer Order
	(on 21 February 2008) shall be determined by an independent valuer in accordance with that order.
	On 30 March 2010, the independent valuer, Andrew Caldwell, issued Assessment Notices to shareholders, setting out his final determinations as to the amount of any compensation payable. He found there was no value in Northern Rock's shares prior to the company being taken into temporary public ownership, and therefore no compensation is payable by the Treasury to former shareholders or other persons affected by the Transfer Order.
	Under the Northern Rock Compensation Scheme Order 2008 any persons affected by a determination of the valuer may require the valuer to reconsider his decision. Mr Caldwell is currently considering the requests for reconsideration that he has received and will in due course issue Revised Assessment Notices to those who submitted requests. If any affected party is dissatisfied with a Revised Assessment Notice, he may refer the matter to the Upper Tribunal.

Taxation: Aviation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake an economic impact assessment of the proposed adoption of a per-plane tax on regional airports.

Justine Greening: The Government will explore changes to aviation tax, including switching from a per-passenger to a per-plane duty. Major changes will be subject to consultation.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Public Expenditure

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the monetary value is of the planned reductions in his Department's spending.

Chris Grayling: HM Treasury announced on 24 May that the Department for Work and Pensions would make efficiencies of £535 million to contribute towards the £6.243 billion of cross-Government savings for the current year. The emergency Budget on 22 June set out the overall envelope for Government spending for the years 2011-12 to 2014-15 and detailed departmental allocations for the spending review will be announced on 20 October 2010.

Employment

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which welfare to work and employment projects will be replaced by his Department's work programme.

Chris Grayling: We are finalising the details but the majority of current welfare to work programmes will be replaced by the new Work Programme; for example, the Flexible New Deal and Pathways to Work will be folded into the Work Programme.
	This Government are committed to providing targeted support and will be introducing a single, integrated work programme to deliver personalised support for the unemployed and ensure that the right kind of support is available to all who need it. We will publish further details as the design and implementation of the Work Programme progresses.

Employment Schemes: Homelessness

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to support homeless people seeking employment.

Chris Grayling: The Government have announced that they will introduce the Work Programme, which will offer a single, integrated programme of personalised support to unemployed people, regardless of the benefit they claim. Within this, we will ensure that homeless people and other disadvantaged groups have access to the levels of support that they need.
	In order to ensure the best support from providers for the harder-to-help, we will offer stronger incentives for them to work with these groups, and will pay them out of the additional benefits they realise by moving people into work.
	We aim to have the Work Programme in place by summer 2011.
	The first cross-government Ministerial Working Group on Preventing and Tackling Homelessness met on 16 June. The working group will explore how we can improve on current arrangements and equip greater numbers of homeless people to come off benefits and into work, through better co-ordination of local services.

Employment: Young People

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what estimate of the number of 18 to 24 year olds reaching the  (a) six-month and  (b) 10-month threshold under the youth guarantee scheme his estimate of the cost of delivering that scheme in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 is based.

Chris Grayling: The DWP does not forecast unemployment. In 2010-11 the Young Person's Guarantee will be offered to every eligible young person when they reach the six month point of their claim to jobseeker's allowance.

Employment: Young People

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what estimate of his Department's expenditure on  (a) Routes Into Work,  (b) the Future Jobs Fund,  (c) Work-focused Training,  (d) the Community Task Force,  (e) internships and  (f) New Deal places his Department's plans for the Young Person's Guarantee in 2010-11 are based.

Chris Grayling: The Young Person's Guarantee is demand-led therefore a breakdown of the expected expenditure is not available.
	The Government are committed to providing targeted support and will be introducing a single, integrated work programme to deliver personalised support for the unemployed, delivering long lasting benefits with a greater focus on sustained employment.

Jobseekers Allowance: Young People

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what requirements 18 to 24 year-olds who have been claiming jobseeker's allowance for more than 10 months and wish to continue claiming will have to comply with from April 2011.

Chris Grayling: Jobseeker's allowance customers are required to be available to take up full-time work immediately, and to be actively seeking work as their main activity. With certain exceptions, they must not delay their return to the labour market by restricting the type of work they are prepared to do or when they are prepared to return to work. In addition, customers must attend fortnightly jobsearch reviews, and must attend interviews with advisers and mandatory employment activity when required to do so.
	By the summer of 2011, the Government aim to have the Work Programme in place nationally. When they enter the Work Programme, young people claiming jobseeker's allowance will be required to take up employment support as a condition of their benefit claim.
	We are currently developing the specification for the Work Programme. However, the Government are committed to the principle that young people have access to the support they need, when they need it.
	We are also planning further support for young people, including mentoring opportunities with small businesses and sole traders, more apprenticeships and more further education places.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council England

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the work of the Arts Council; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: As part of the Government's work to address the deficit, the work of all public bodies will be looked at to ensure the most effective use of public funds.

Listed Events Review

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will publish the responses he has received in relation to his Department's consultation on the Davies Report on free-to-air sporting events; and if he will take steps to ensure that the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final remains a free-to-air sporting event.

Hugh Robertson: The Government are currently considering next steps in relation to the listed events review and will make a statement at the earliest opportunity. Subject to this decision the Government will then consider publishing the responses to the consultation on the Department's website.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent representations he has received on the landscaping of the London 2012 Olympics sites.

Hugh Robertson: To date, no representations concerning landscaping for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games have been made to me or to the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport.

Olympic Games 2012: Facilities

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what information his Department holds on the locations which have been chosen by each country participating in the London 2010 Olympics and Paralympics for their training facilities.

Hugh Robertson: The Government do not hold records of agreements between potential training facilities and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) or the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs). However, to date, I am aware of 36 agreements between facilities and overseas teams-as shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Country  Location 
			 Japan NOC Loughborough University 
			 British Olympic Association Loughborough University 
			 British Virgin Islands NOC Hertfordshire University Sport Village 
			 Rwanda NOC Bury St Edmonds 
			 Rwanda NPC Bury St Edmonds 
			 Mozambique NOC Comberton Village College Cambridgeshire 
			 Bangladesh NOC Harrow, North West London 
			 South Africa NOC St Mary's University, Twickenham 
			 Sri Lanka NOC Durham University 
			 Columbia NOC North-east 
			 Thailand NOC North-west 
			 Oceania-15 Pacific Island NOCs North-west 
			 Australia NOC Swim Team Manchester 
			 Colombia NPC South-east 
			 Barbados NPC Medway in Kent 
			 Malawi NOC South-east 
			 Barbados NOC South-east 
			 Papua New Guinea NPC South-east 
			 Portugal gymnastics/trampoline team Gillingham 
			 Kenya NOC Bristol 
			 Paralympics GB Bath University 
			 Malaysia NOC Bath and Loughborough Universities 
			 Australia NPC Wales 
			 New Zealand NPC Swansea 
			 U.S. Track and Field Birmingham 
			 Jamaica NOC Birmingham University 
			 Serbia NOC Sheffield and Leeds 
			 Zambia NOC Glasgow 
			 Namibia NOC Glasgow 
			 Netherlands NOC Swim Team Leeds 
			 Ukraine Judo Tonbridge 
			 Belarus Judo Tonbridge 
			 Malaysia National Sports Institute Bath 
			 South Africa NPC Cardiff 
			 Gambia NOC York 
			 Azerbaijan Ipswich

Olympic Games 2012: Tickets

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 20W, on Olympic Games 2012: tickets, how many tickets are being offered to government and other Games public sector delivery partners; and whether they are being offered at a lower price than those available to the public through the ballot process.

Hugh Robertson: There will be no free tickets. As part of its ticketing strategy, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will make available a very small number of tickets for purchase by the core Government Departments and public bodies responsible for delivering the games. These tickets will be purchased at face value-neither free, nor subsidised. The Government have not yet decided whether they will take up the offer.

TRANSPORT

A5: M1

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any work on construction of junction 11a of the M1 may be undertaken prior to the completion of the public inquiry on the A5-M1 link.

Michael Penning: holding answer 22 June 2010
	The public inquiry for the A5 M1 Link Road was due to commence on 29 June and immediately follow the inquiry considering the M1 J10-13 managed motorway junction improvements. However, the inquiry into the A5-M1 link road has been deferred pending the outcome of the spending review in the autumn.
	It would be inappropriate to undertake any construction work for the proposed new J11a as this would pre-judge the outcome of the public inquiry for A5-M1 link road project.

A5: M1

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the additional cost of building junction 11a of the M1 will be in circumstances in which it is not built at the same time as the automated traffic management works between junctions 11 and 12.

Michael Penning: holding answer 22 June 2010
	 The public inquiry for the A5-M1 link road scheme was due to commence on 29 June and immediately follow the public inquiry into the draft orders for the M1 J10-13 managed motorway junction improvements. However, the inquiry for the A5-M1 link road has been deferred until the outcome of the spending review in the autumn.
	The additional cost of not building J11a concurrently with the adjacent M1 J10-13 managed motorway scheme, is estimated at approximately £7 million. This is based on deferral of one year.

A5: M1

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate was made of the cost of the public inquiry into the A5-M1 link before that inquiry was postponed.

Michael Penning: holding answer 22 June 2010
	 The public inquiry for the A5-M1 link road was due to commence on 29 June and was programmed for approximately four weeks. However, the inquiry has been deferred pending the outcome of the spending review.
	The estimated cost for preparation and holding of the public inquiry for this project (based on a four week public inquiry) is £1.8 million.
	The estimated £1.8 million costs include; preparation and publication of draft orders, legal costs, consideration of alternative routes proposed by objectors, meetings with stakeholders, preparation and publication of public notices, preparation of evidence for the inquiry, cost of venue hire and the estimated cost for the inquiry inspector.

Arriva: Finance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what annual public subsidy is awarded to Arriva for each bus route it operates on the Isle of Sheppey; and what factors are taken into account in calculating that subsidy.

Norman Baker: As an operator of local bus services, Arriva is eligible for Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG). BSOG is paid on the basis of fuel used by an operator on eligible services. Additional incentives apply if an operator: makes fuel efficiency savings; uses low carbon buses; or, from April this year, uses smartcard and or automatic vehicle location equipment (such as GPS). No further factors are taken into account in calculating the grant amount.
	Claims for BSOG show which routes are eligible, but it is not possible to identify exactly what money is paid out for routes operating entirely on the Isle of Sheppey (as some routes will extend beyond the Isle). Our best assessment of the subsidy paid to Arriva for routes operating wholly or in part on the Isle of Sheppey is £128,000 (based on the latest year for which a certified claim is available - July 2008 to June 2009).
	Some of the Arriva services are run on tender to the local authority and so there will be subsidy paid by the local authority in those cases. However, we are not able to say what payments are made as the arrangements are commercially confidential.

Bus Services

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to encourage greater partnership between bus operators and local authorities in the provision of local bus services. [R]

Norman Baker: We have seen good results in places where local authorities and operators work effectively in partnership to improve local bus services in England and Wales-such as in Brighton, Oxford, York and Cambridge, though there are areas where such effective partnership working is not occurring. We want to ensure best practice is spread much more widely to give bus passengers the services they deserve and expect. I am therefore talking with bus operators, local authorities and others to determine how this success can be replicated around the country.
	The outcome of the Competition Commission's current inquiry into the local bus market in Great Britain outside London will be an important factor when considering the potential for partnership working, and I await its final report with interest.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 10 June 2010,  Official Report, column 35WS, on transport (local authority major schemes), in respect of programmes for which there are alternative funding sources, whether alternative funding must cover the full cost of the programme in all cases.

Norman Baker: holding answer 22 June 2010
	The relevant section of the written ministerial statement concerned a small number of schemes being developed by local authorities at various stages of their statutory procedures. Officials have written to the relevant authorities stating that due to the urgent priority to tackle the UK's record budget deficit, the Secretary of State intends to defer various aspects of the statutory order process, unless the authority can provide evidence that alternative funding is available which would allow him to continue to make his decision. Such alternative funding would need to cover the total amount of Government funding sought by the authority for the scheme in question.
	Only once the Government's spending review has been concluded will the Department for Transport be in a position to identify those transport projects for which central Government funding will be available.

Government Car and Despatch Agency

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by the Government Car Service  (a) on 6 May 2010 and  (b) at the latest date for which information is available.

Michael Penning: The Government Car Service, part of Government Car and Despatch Agency, employed 188 staff on 6 May 2010. On 11 June 2010, the latest date for which information is available, the Government Car Service employed 186 staff.
	The Government Car Service is currently reviewing its headcount figures in-line with business operational needs.

Government Car and Despatch Agency

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles the Government Car Service has disposed of since the Government came into office.

Michael Penning: Since this Government came into office the Government Car Service has disposed of two cars.
	There are 10 vehicles in the process of being decommissioned for disposal, and a further 18 vehicles identified for decommissioning.

Motorcycles: Driving Tests

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) multi-purpose test centres,  (b) Vehicle and Operator Services Agency sites and  (c) casual test sites are available to run module one of the motorcycle test in each region.

Michael Penning: The number of multi-purpose test centres (MPTC), Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) sites and casual sites available to deliver module one practical motorcycling tests in the three nations in Great Britain are as follows:
	
		
			   England  Scotland  Wales 
			 MPTC (1)38 6 3 
			 VOSA 11 3 0 
			 Casual 3 1 0 
			 (1) Includes module 1 tests being delivered from Driving Standards Agency's Training and Development Centre at Cardington, Bedfordshire.

Network Rail

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which options he is considering to increase the accountability of Network Rail to passengers; what consultation he plans to undertake on these options; and whether he plans to consider the introduction of a co-operative structure for Network Rail.

Theresa Villiers: The Government have a commitment to reform Network Rail to make it more accountable to its customers. We are in the process of considering a number of options to implement this, including options relating to consultation. No decisions on specific measures have yet been made.

Private Roads

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of unadopted roads in  (a) St Albans,  (b) Hertfordshire and  (c) England.

Norman Baker: We are not aware of any up to date information which is held centrally on how many unadopted streets there are. The last recorded figures, based on a 1972 survey, suggested there were around 40,000 such streets in the UK.

Railways: West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester

Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of train passengers in  (a) West Yorkshire and  (b) Greater Manchester in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: The information requested is currently published annually in aggregated form by the Office for Rail Regulation within its 'National Rail Trends Yearbook'. The latest published data relate to passenger journeys in 2008-09.
	Chapter 7 of the latest update of 'National Rail Trends' contains these data and is available on the Office of Rail Regulation website at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.2026

River Mersey: Bridges

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received a report from officials of his Department on the decision of the Planning Inspectorate in respect of the proposed Mersey Gateway bridge.

Michael Penning: No. The Secretary of State announced on 10 June 2010,  Official Report, column 35WS, that Ministers are postponing decisions on orders for local authority schemes requiring funding from this Department until after the autumn spending review. Until the position on funding for the Mersey Gateway Bridge scheme becomes clearer, it would be premature for officials to report to Ministers with their recommendations on the statutory orders sought by Halton borough council.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to  (a) receive the report from Sir Andrew Foster on the value for money and credibility of alternative options for the Inter City Express Programme and  (b) inform the House of the findings of that report.

Theresa Villiers: The Government expect to receive the report on the value for money of the Intercity Express Programme imminently.
	The report-and the Government's response to it-will be published shortly afterwards.

Runcorn-Widnes Road Bridge

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department and its predecessors paid in grant support for ongoing maintenance to the Runcorn-Widnes road bridge in each year since 1992; and how much has been so allocated for the financial year 2010-11.

Norman Baker: Halton borough council received specific funding allocations for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 to assist them with maintenance work on the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The allocations were:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 4.4 
			 2009-10 4.9 
			 2010-11 4.5 
		
	
	The council was able to use its annual capital highway maintenance allocation from the Department for Transport for repairs to this bridge or other priorities. The Department holds records of those allocations from 1998. These show the following allocations to Halton borough council.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 1998-99 0.245 
			 1999-2000 2.684 
			 2000-01 2.893 
			 2001-02 2.893 
			 2002-03 2.893 
			 2003-04 2.170 
			 2004-05 2.611 
			 2005-06 1.959 
			 2006-07 2.274 
			 2007-08 2.192 
			 2008-09 1.881 
			 2009-10 2.023 
			 2010-11 2.190 
		
	
	Halton borough council also have approval to take forward a major maintenance scheme for the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The Department for Transport's confirmed contribution for this major maintenance scheme is £18.639 million.

Southeastern: Finance

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what annual public subsidy is paid to Southeastern Railways for each route it operates; and what factors are taken into account in calculating that subsidy.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport contracts an overall payment for each franchise as a whole, rather than on a route by route basis. This is done through a bidding process which takes into account the costs and revenues of the franchise over its contract period. Subsidy details for the Southeastern (Integrated Kent Franchise) are set out on our website and can be found at:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/franchises/franchisepaymentprofiles

Woodhead Tunnel

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department plans to continue negotiations with Network Rail and the National Grid on the availability and use of all three Woodhead tunnels according to the timescales previously agreed.

Theresa Villiers: Should rail use of the Woodhead tunnels become necessary in the future, the Government would be open to working with Network Rail, National Grid and local stakeholder groups to consider how best to bring this about.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Departmental Pay

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Gregory Barker: A close and effective link between pay and performance and increased use of variable pay is a key element of the reward arrangements for the civil service-and the senior civil service in particular.
	Non-consolidated performance payments are an integral element of the reward package for staff. Non-consolidated performance pay has a number of key advantages:
	it encourages continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance;
	it prevents a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded;
	it has no long-term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments;
	it focuses the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation;
	it motivates employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of departmental objectives rather than offering payment for time served; and
	it targets money at those who make the biggest contribution.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created in 3 October 2008.
	The total expenditure on such bonuses was:  (a) £469,555 for 2008-09 and  (b) £825,986 for 2009-10.

Radioactive Waste: Waste Management

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent on research and development for long-term nuclear waste management, site radiological remediation and facility decommissioning through  (a) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,  (b) NIREX,  (c) the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and  (d) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd in the last 10 years.

Charles Hendry: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's civil public sector nuclear sites and directly commissions research in support of this mission. Since it was set up in 2005, annual research and development (R and D) expenditure has been approximately:
	
		
			   Spend (£ million) 
			 2005-06 11 
			 2006-07 13 
			 2007-08 18 
			 2008-09 11 
			 2009-10 11 
		
	
	NDA figures do not include indirect R and D expenditure by NDA's contractors carried out in support of its mission across the NDA's estate. For example, that work carried out by the site licence companies who manage nuclear licensed sites on the NDA's behalf. Site license company expenditure on R and D for 2008-09 is estimated to be in the order of £90 million.
	 (b) Prior to being incorporated into the NDA on 31 March 2007, the role of United Kingdom Nirex Ltd was to examine aspects of long-term management and disposal of radioactive waste. Up until that point, Nirex's research and development expenditure over the last decade had been approximately:
	
		
			   Spend (£ million) 
			 1999-2000 5 
			 2000-01 6 
			 2001-02 8 
			 2002-03 8 
			 2003-04 7 
			 2004-05 7 
			 2005-06 7 
			 2006-07 9 
		
	
	 (c) CoRWM's role was initially to advise Government on the best options for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste and its remit now is to provide independent scrutiny and advice on the long-term management, including storage and disposal, of radioactive waste. As such it does not undertake specific research and development. Further information about the Committee, including costs, is available from its website at:
	www.corwm.org.uk
	 (d) British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) is a private company owned by UK Government which previously operated a number of nuclear sites and businesses with operations in the UK and oversees. The decommissioning assets and liabilities previously owned by BNFL were transferred to the NDA with its creation in 2005. It sold its main American business, Westinghouse in 2006 for $5.4 billion, and dismantled its UK clean-up subsidiary, British Nuclear Group, over the period 2006-2009. BNFL has no remaining operational activities or businesses but its approximate research and development expenditure up until 2007 is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Spend (£ million) 
			 1999 81 
			 2000 96 
			 2001 92 
			 2002 113 
			 2003 109 
			 2004 98 
			 2005 92 
			 2006 41 
			 2007 7 
		
	
	BNFL figures up to 2005 include expenditure on R and D across the BNFL estate, including that now carried out by the National Nuclear Laboratory and the NDA's site license companies.

HEALTH

Antidepressants

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people in each region who have been prescribed anti-depressant medication in each of the last three years.

Simon Burns: Information on the number of people prescribed a medicine is not collected centrally. Information on the number of prescription items for anti-depressants(1) dispensed in the community in England is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of prescription items dispensed primary care by strategic health authority for anti-depressant medicines in (SHA) in England: 2007 - 09 
			  Thousand 
			  SHA  2007  2008  2009 
			 East midlands 2,962.7 3,186.9 3,488.2 
			 East of England 3,851.0 4,108.6 4,474.2 
			 London 3,114.1 3,294.6 3,571.8 
			 North-east 2,344.5 2,530.0 2,770.1 
			 North-west 5,704.4 6,032.1 6,515.4 
			 South Central 2,583.4 2,734.1 2,975.2 
			 South-east Coast 2,591.3 2,748.7 2,990.5 
			 South-west 3,590.5 3,825.6 4,194.5 
			 West Midlands 3,277.1 3,484.0 3,801.8 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3,820.8 4,015.9 4,358.7 
			 Total(2) 33,839.6 35,960.5 39,140.5 
			 (1) Anti-depressant medication has been defined as those products included in British National Formulary (BNF) Chapter 4.3 (anti-depressant drugs). (2) Figures may not sum due to rounding.  Source: NHS Prescription Services Information System

Breast Cancer: Screening

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure his Department has incurred on the NHS Breast Screening Programme in each year since the programme was established; and if he will provide a real-terms budget increase for the programme for 2011-12.

Paul Burstow: The information is not held in the requested format. The funding that covers the cost of delivering national health service cancer screening programmes is provided from local primary care trust allocations. The most recent assessment, made in 2006, put the cost of NHS Breast Screening Programme at £75 million.
	Under the NHS Breast Screening Programme, women aged between 50 to 69 years are routinely invited for screening and women over the age of 70 can request free three-yearly screening. The programme is in the process of extending to screening women aged 47 to 49 and 70 to 73 at a cost of £12 million per year.
	There is also a fund of £10 million to provide independent quality assurance to the screening programmes, and £4 million of this is for the NHS Breast Screening Programme.
	Figures for 2011-12 are subject to the forthcoming comprehensive spending review and cannot be provided at this time.

Dementia: Drugs

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidance his Department has issued to  (a) primary care trusts,  (b) NHS trusts,  (c) residential care homes and  (d) other institutions on the use of anti-psychotic medicines for people with dementia.

Paul Burstow: The over prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs for people with dementia is unacceptable. The National Clinical Director for dementia is leading the work to implement the recommendations made by Professor Sube Banerjee in his report into the use of anti-psychotic medicines, which was published in November 2009. Work is under way to consider guidance for institutions on this issue.

Dementia: Drugs

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's response to Professor Sube Banerjee's report on the prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia, of 12 November 2009, when the national audit to generate data on the prescribing of anti-psychotic medicines began; whether he has received any interim findings of that audit; when he expects to receive the final report of that audit; if he will publish that audit; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The Department is working with the NHS Information Centre to conduct a review of the progress made by primary care trusts to prioritise support for people with dementia, through a national audit of dementia services. The audit will highlight what progress different localities are making in key areas including reducing the use of anti-psychotic drugs. Work to develop the scope of the audit has begun and once this is finalised the data collection will begin. The results of the audit are expected to be available in October 2010 and the final findings will be reported by the end of 2010.

Dementia: Drugs

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the national audit of the prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs referred to in his Department's response to Professor Sube Banerjee's report on the prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia of 12 November 2009.

Paul Burstow: The National Clinical Director for dementia is working with a range of stakeholders to lead the work to implement the recommendations made by Professor Sube Banerjee in his report into the use of anti-psychotic medicines, which was published in November 2009. A key part of this work is to undertake a national audit of the prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs. Representatives from across the health, social care and independent sectors with an interest in this issue have been invited to join a stakeholder reference group to advise the Department on the development of the audit.

Dementia: Drugs

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has commissioned research on a potential correlation between the use of anti-psychotic medicines and use of medication to treat Alzheimer's disease within an institution; whether the national audit referred to in his Department's response to Professor Sube Banerjee's report on the prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia of 12 November 2009 will collect data on the use of anti-Alzheimer's disease medication; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The Department is not supporting research of this kind. Work is currently under way, being led by the National Clinical Director for dementia in consultation with a range of stakeholders across the health, social care and independent sectors, to develop the scope of the national audit of the prescribing of anti-psychotic medicines. This includes determining what data should be collected.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of methadone and other treatments in tackling drug addiction; and if he will make a statement.

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent evaluation his Department has undertaken of the use of methadone to rehabilitate addicts; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: In 2007 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published Technology Appraisals on methadone and buprenorphine
	www.nice.org.uk/TA114
	and also clinical guidelines on opiate detoxification
	www.nice.org.uk/CG52
	and on psychosocial interventions
	www.nice.org.uk/CG51
	for drug misuse. NICE periodically reviews its guidance to determine whether an update is required.
	In addition, the Department, in conjunction with other United Kingdom administrations, published updated UK clinical guidelines on drug misuse, Drug misuse and dependence-UK guidelines on clinical management-2007. The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse has produced guidance on the evidence base and clinical practice of drug treatment which can be found at:
	www.nta.nhs.uk/publications.aspx

Electronic Government

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps  (a) his Department and  (b) its non-departmental public bodies take to ensure that the principles of digital inclusion are taken into account in respect of information made available online.

Simon Burns: The Department makes information available online through two websites. Public health information is available at NHS Choices
	www.nhs.uk
	and information for health and social care professionals is available at
	www.dh.gov.uk
	The Department is committed to reaching the 12 million people who are not online, particularly the 4 million people who are both socially and digitally excluded.
	The Department, through NHS Choices, runs many initiatives with those involved in digital inclusion, including Race Online 2012 and UK online centres.
	NHS Choices has an intermediary engagement and training programme with library staff and other front line workers to reach older groups, families on lower incomes and unemployed people.
	Features of NHS Choices are available to view on mobile phones and there are also SMS services including 'Find My Nearest' to locate health services such as general practitioner surgeries.
	The Department's corporate website www.dh.gov.uk conforms with Government guidelines for website accessibility, and NHS Choices is currently working with AbilityNet, an accessibility expert charity, to make www.nhs.uk more usable for those with disabilities.
	As part of our commitment to the rationalisation of websites, we are merging those websites not in line with Cabinet Office guidance and belonging to non-departmental public bodies, with our corporate and public websites. The converged information will then come into line with our current standards on accessibility and our programme of digital inclusion.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to monitor whether primary care trusts provide accessible, timely and high-quality gender identity services; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: Primary care trusts determine their own local priorities and commission services to meet the needs of their communities. This includes deciding how best to use the available resources to provide gender identity services.
	All national health service organisations should comply with the existing law that provides explicit protection and rights for transsexual people in a number of areas including health services. This covers requirements for public bodies, including NHS organisations, to proactively promote gender equality which includes transsexual men and transsexual women.
	In September 2009 Sir David Nicholson, NHS chief executive, reminded NHS chief executives and their teams of their legal duties in relation to gender identity services and asked for all cases to be considered individually, according to clinical need and local prioritisation.

Muscular Dystrophy and Cystic Fibrosis: Research

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated to research into  (a) Duchenne muscular dystrophy and  (b) cystic fibrosis in 2010.

Paul Burstow: The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and of the Medical Research Council (MRC) is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Actual expenditure on muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis research in 2010-11 and beyond will be determined by the success of relevant bids for funding.
	The Department's most recent estimate of past and planned expenditure on all single gene disorder (SGD) research is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Actual and planned expenditure on SGD research: 2003-14 
			  £ million 
			  Departmental funding stream  Start date  End date  Expenditure to date  Planned expenditure 
			 Genetics White Paper: gene therapy research programme 2004 2010 3 - 
			 NIHR Biomedical Research Centres 2007 2009 2.3 n/a 
			 NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research Care 2007 2010 - 0.05 
			 NIHR Health Technology Assessment 2005 2013 1.4 1.8 
			 NIHR New and Emerging Applications of Technology 2006 2009 0.3 - 
			 NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research 2009 2014 - 2 
			 NIHR Research for Patient Benefit 2010 2012 - 0.2 
			 Policy Research Programme 2006 2010 - (1)5.8 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) This figure includes the total funding allocated by the Department to the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit. Only one of the Unit's five work streams is relevant to SGD but we do not have the means separately to identify the cost of that work stream.  Note: Planned expenditure figures are a snapshot of the position at September 2009. Actual expenditure in future years will depend on a number of presently unknown factors, including the possible allocation of funds to new studies. 
		
	
	The NIHR Clinical Research Network is additionally providing national health service research infrastructure support to 16 SGD-related studies.
	The MRC also invests in genomic research and genomic medicine. The MRC receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

NHS: Finance

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to implement its resource allocation formula in respect of unprocessed distance from target adjustments.

Simon Burns: We have guaranteed that health spending will increase in real terms in each year of the Parliament. However, healthcare spend will also be looked at as part of the next spending review. This will inform the speed at which primary care trusts move towards their target revenue allocations.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will take steps to make provision for additional services at the University Hospital of Hartlepool;
	(2)  pursuant to the oral statement of 17 June 2010,  Official Report, columns 1040-1, on public spending, which health capital projects have been approved;
	(3)  what costs have been incurred in respect of the new hospital for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust;
	(4)  what clinical advice he took into account in his decision to cancel the hospital project at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust;
	(5)  what plans he has for the Momentum programme in the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust area.

Simon Burns: The Government's review of spending decisions taken since 1 January this year was to ensure that all the schemes considered were affordable, good value for money and consistent with the Government's priorities. This was in the context of the most urgent task facing the Government which was to tackle the record levels of debt inherited from the last government.
	As part of the statement given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 17 June to the House, the cancellation of the proposed new £450 million hospital scheme for North Tees and Hartlepool was announced.
	Where major national health service changes are proposed, they must meet the strengthened criteria for such decisions as set out in a letter from the NHS Chief Executive Sir David Nicholson of 20 May to Monitor and all NHS chief executives. This is to ensure that, in future, all service changes must be led by clinicians and patients and not be driven from the top down.
	In these tough economic times it is essential that all major hospital building-whether private finance initiatives or public capital-must be affordable and provide value for money for the taxpayer. For foundation trusts, proposals must be consistent with their independent status in relation to reduced reliance on Departmental support. As a foundation trust with independent status, North Tees and Hartlepool has borrowing powers and other mechanisms available to it to fund alternative capital investment requirements.
	The trust will have incurred costs in working up the proposals, in developing the business case and in performing the feasibility studies behind it. As an independent foundation trust this information is a matter for Monitor (the statutory name for the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts) and may be obtained by writing to the Chairman of Monitor.
	The business case approved in March 2010 anticipated a request from the trust to the Department for £8 million to buy the land on the Wynyard Park site for the new hospital. This request was received and met by the Department. If the trust has no further use for the land then it can be sold to recover the funding.
	The local strategic health authority and primary care trust have both pledged to continue working closely with all local NHS organisations to plan and develop the best possible health services for the population of Hartlepool and North Tees and to ensure that the wider 'Momentum Project'-involving bringing healthcare services closer to communities-will continue.
	The NHS capital investment schemes which were approved to go ahead as a result of the Government review of spending commitments made under the last administration since 1 January 2010 are those for Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals NHS Trust, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust and Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust.

Prescriptions

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of free prescriptions which were issued in each region in each of the last three years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the average cost to the NHS of items issued on prescription in each region in each of the last three years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of prescription forms which were submitted in each region in each of the last three years;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the average number of prescription items issued per prescription form in each region in each of the last three years.

Simon Burns: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number and cost of prescription forms and items dispensed in primary care by strategic health authority (SHA) in England: 2007 to 2009 
			  SHA  Prescription forms (thousand)  Prescription items (thousand)  Items where prescription charges were not paid at the point of dispensing( 1)  (thousand)  Average number of items per form  Net ingredient cost (£000)  Average cost per item (£) 
			  2007   
			 East midlands 34,426.6 70,150.6 65,270.4 2.04 697,319.1 9.94 
			 East of England 43,339.0 86,646.1 79,728.0 2.00 944,385.1 10.90 
			 London 45,142.4 91,068.5 83,849.0 2.02 1,010,949.8 11.10 
			 North-east 23,155.9 48,186.4 45,506.5 2.08 452,184.8 9.38 
			 North-west 60,298.6 126,693.3 119,306.1 2.10 1,342,746.5 10.60 
			 South Central 27,106.7 52,843.3 47,751.3 1.95 567,566.2 10.74 
			 South-east Coast 31,010.2 62,272.6 57,020.8 2.01 719,007.2 11.55 
			 South-west 41,665.3 81,795.8 75,818.8 1.96 787,500.0 9.63 
			 West midlands 43,015.3 87,120.8 81,456.1 2.03 977,250.6 11.22 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 42,964.7 89,520.6 83,891.9 2.08 873,758.0 9.76 
			 Total 392,124.6 796,298.0 739,599.0 2.03 8,372,667.3 10.51 
			
			  2008   
			 East midlands 35,932.8 74,898.9 69,976.9 2.08 691,454.2 9.23 
			 East of England 45,077.0 91,852.7 84,987.8 2.04 949,437.2 10.34 
			 London 46,866.7 96,993.4 89,542.0 2.07 998,127.8 10.29 
			 North-east 24,221.9 51,545.4 48,836.8 2.13 445,941.2 8.65 
			 North-west 62,476.4 133,360.3 125,912.8 2.13 1,339,248.4 10.04 
			 South Central 27,994.4 55,950.6 50,787.4 2.00 562,005.0 10.04 
			 South-east Coast 31,870.2 65,603.4 60,334.3 2.06 719,103.2 10.96 
			 South-west 42,976.9 86,469.5 80,377.2 2.01 779,361.3 9.01 
			 West midlands 44,625.4 91,659.2 86,027.8 2.05 967,023.1 10.55 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 44,490.8 94,168.9 88,463.5 2.12 873,790.8 9.28 
			 Total 406,532.4 842,502.2 785,246.4 2.07 8,325,492.2 9.88 
			
			  2009   
			 East midlands 37,848.4 78,830.5 74,340.6 2.08 709,446.1 9.00 
			 East of England 47,479.1 96,511.9 90,138.4 2.03 980,306.6 10.16 
			 London 49,732.0 102,895.0 95,662.6 2.07 1,025,452.7 9.97 
			 North-east 25,572.3 54,790.6 52,322.4 2.14 455,927.8 8.32 
			 North-west 64,994.0 139,396.6 132,547.8 2.14 1,362,582.6 9.77 
			 South Central 29,376.3 58,787.2 53,933.0 2.00 574,925.1 9.78 
			 South-east Coast 33,447.9 68,498.7 63,590.5 2.05 738,975.0 10.79 
			 South-west 45,021.2 90,969.7 85,284.5 2.02 800,215.2 8.80 
			 West midlands 46,568.0 96,309.1 91,079.3 2.07 992,811.9 10.31 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 47,217.2 99,010.3 93,863.1 2.10 898,778.2 9.08 
			 Total 427,256.4 885,999.5 832,762.1 2.07 8,539,421.2 9.64 
			 (1) Includes items dispensed to patients holding a pre-payment certificate.  Source: NHS Prescription Services Information System

Strokes: Health Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much his Department plans to spend on long term support services for stroke survivors after the ending of the ring-fencing of funding for the National Stroke Strategy;
	(2)  how much was spent on stroke services in each local authority in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(3)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of support services for stroke survivors on  (a) their quality of life and  (b) the number of hospital admissions.

Simon Burns: The National Stroke Strategy was published in 2007 in order to provide advice, guidance and support for commissioners, strategic health authorities, the voluntary sector and social care to improve services across the whole stroke pathway.
	To support implementation of that strategy, £45 million additional central funding was made available from 2008-09 to 2010-11 as grants to local authorities for support to stroke services survivors and their carers. This funding was over and above the general funding local authorities receive to provide social care support for people in their areas. Funding for the period 2011-15 is subject to the spending review.
	The NAO revisited stroke services in 2009 and in its report Progress in improving stroke care (February 2010) it found that, views on the quality of longer term care were variable, ranging from very good to very poor. They also reported that many local authorities had used the stroke grants to commission support from the voluntary sector for stroke survivors, their families and carers identifying 268 such contracts in 2009 compared with 164 in 2005. However, we have no information on the impact of such services on hospital admissions.
	When assessing people for support, local authorities generally provide services on the basis of an assessment of the degree of disability a person has rather than on a medical diagnosis. We therefore do not have information on the overall amount of money they have spent on support for stroke survivors, many of whom will also have other contributing causes to their disabilities. However, the list of allocations made to local authorities from the three year £45 million stroke grant has been placed in the Library.

Strokes: Health Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he had with carers prior to the decision to end the ring-fencing of funding for stroke services.

Paul Burstow: The decision, as announced recently by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was taken as part of a wider Government initiative to remove £1.7 billion of grant ring fencing to enable councils to make local decisions around how to deliver essential front line services more flexibly, such as stroke services. The coalition Government value the role of carers and their important contribution to society, and commits the Government to look at providing greater support to the carers.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department paid to farmers in  (a) England,  (b) Nottinghamshire and  (c) Bassetlaw under the Single Payment Scheme in 2009.

James Paice: As of 16 June 2010, £1,830,966,409.73 has been paid under the 2009 Single Payment Scheme (England only).
	The Rural Payments Agency does not explicitly record information on payments to farmers on a regional basis. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, therefore we are unable provide a reply to parts  (b) and  (c) of this question.
	Further information may be found at
	www.cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/
	where details of recipients of CAP subsidy payments are reported. The details included relate to all CAP scheme payments, including the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), made to beneficiaries during the years 16 October 2007 to 15 October 2008 and 16 October 2008 to 15 October 2009. This information is published annually in April.

Agriculture: Subsidies

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department paid to the individual in  (a) England,  (b) Nottinghamshire and  (c) Bassetlaw who received the highest payment under the Single Payment Scheme in 2009.

James Paice: The highest claim paid under the 2009 Single Payment Scheme (England only) was £2,395,356.36.
	Further information may be found at
	www.cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/
	where details of recipients of CAP subsidy payments are published on a single website. The details included relate to all CAP scheme payments, including the Single Payment Scheme (SPS). Details due to be published in April 2011 will include payments made for 2009 Single Payment Scheme between 16 October 2009 to 15 October 2010.
	The Rural Payments Agency does not explicitly record information on payments to farmers on a regional basis. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, therefore we are unable provide a reply to parts  (b) and  (c) of this question.

Agriculture: Subsidies

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers received payments under the Single Payment Scheme in Bassetlaw in 2009.

James Paice: The Rural Payments Agency does not explicitly record information on payments to farmers on a regional basis. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, therefore we are unable provide a reply to this question.
	Further information may be found at
	www.cap-payments.defra.gov.uk/
	where details of recipients of CAP subsidy payments are published on a single website. The details included relate to all CAP scheme payments, including the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), made to beneficiaries during the years 16 October 2007 to 15 October 2008 and 16 October 2008 to 15 October 2009.

Animal Health: Expenditure

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Animal Health Agency has spent on  (a) veterinary services,  (b) management and consultants and  (c) computer programmes and IT in each year since its inception.

James Paice: The amount spent by the Animal Health Agency in each of these categories is displayed in the following tables in £000s.
	
		
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			  Veterinary Services  
			 (external)  
			 Official Veterinarians (excluding Animal Health veterinary staff) 23,519 25,273 16,774 20,953 21,802 
			 Temporary Official Veterinarians 1,296 932 126 25 5 
			  24,815 26,205 16,900 20,978 21,807 
			 (internal)  
			 Animal Health veterinary staff 14,550 15,753 14,906 15,226 14,832 
			  39,365 41,958 31,806 36,204 36,639 
			   
			  Management  
			 Board member costs-given as a banding as actual cost not disclosed 620-625 745-750 690-695 670-675 900-905 
			 Number of members during the year 9 9 11 11 12 
			   
			  Consultants  
			 Contractor costs-as per the operating cost statement 1,804 3,216 3,708 3,555 9,948 
			 Contractor costs-capitalised and therefore included in IT capitalised costs below - 1,100 2,200 4,500 4,300 
			  1,804 4,316 5,908 8,055 14,248 
			   
			  Computers programmes and ST  
			 IT-resource costs 1,703 4,459 5,496 2,303 3,736 
			 IT-costs centrally recharged by DEFRA for use of IT infrastructure 7,020 6,879 7,086 9,217 9,425 
			 IT-capitalised costs-includes capitalised contractor cost above 1,882 4,902 16,756 18,103 14,667 
			  10,605 16,240 29,338 29,623 27,828 
			  Source: Animal Health Annual Report and Accounts

Cereals

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what grain reserves the UK held on 31 March 2010;
	(2)  what her policy is on the maintenance of strategic grain reserves.

James Paice: The latest National Statistics produced by DEFRA on the tonnages of wheat, barley and oats held on farms in England and Wales and wheat, barley, oats and maize held by UK ports, co-operatives and merchants were released on 22 April 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
	It is important to note that stocks held on farms relate to England and Wales on 22 February 2010, and stocks held at ports, co-ops and merchants relate to the UK on 28 February 2010. In previous years the stock level figures related to the end of March.
	
		
			  Cereal stocks held on farms in England and Wales at the end of February 2010 
			Thousand tonnes 
			   Own grown  Bought in 
			 Wheat 4,781 28 
			 Barley 1,119 26 
			 Oats 202 4 
		
	
	
		
			  Cereal stocks held in ports, co-ops and merchants in the UK  at the end of February 2010 
			Thousand tonnes 
			   Home grown  Imported 
			 Wheat 1,083 116 
			 Barley 848 (1)- 
			 Oats 79 (1)- 
			 Maize 3 54 
			 Barley and oats imported(1) - 2 
		
	
	The Government have no plans to hold reserves of food. An assessment of UK Food Security was published in August 2009 (and updated in January 2010).

Coastal Areas: Environment Protection

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for the funding of Pathfinder projects.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has made £7.6 million available to 15 coastal authorities under the Pathfinder programme this year to test innovative approaches to adapting to coastal change. Future funding for projects such as this will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

Coastal Areas: Environment Protection

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in which areas she plans further coastal defence measures; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: In 2010-11 the Environment Agency and coastal authorities plan to construct 41 English coastal schemes (each costing over £250,000) to address coastal flood risk or erosion. These are listed in the following table.
	The total investment in these coastal schemes during 2010-11 is £70 million. Some of these will take several years to complete.
	Plans for future years will depend on the Spending Review.
	
		
			  Project Name  EA Region  Operating Authority 
			 High Knocke to Dymchurch SD - Frontage A Southern EA 
			 Lincshore 2010 to 2015 Anglian EA 
			 Central Area Detailed Design and Construction North West Blackpool BC 
			 Redcar North East EA 
			 Shaldon and Ringmore FDS South West EA 
			 Eastbourne Beach Management - 5 yr Plan (Yr 1) Southern Eastbourne borough council 
			 Humber: BAE Works to East Clough North East EA 
			 PEVENSEY Bay Sea Defences PPP Southern EA 
			 Hull TSB Drive Sync North East EA 
			 Humber East Halton Marshes/Skitter Anglian EA 
			 Realignment of Littlehaven Sea Wall - Phase 2 North East South Tyneside Council 
			 Selsey and Wittering Beach Recharge (beneficial use of maintenance Southern Chichester District Council 
			 Holland Haven Sea Wall (Gunfleet Boating Club frontage) Anglian Tendring District Council 
			 Whitby East Pier Extension Urgent Works North East Scarborough Borough Council 
			 Steart Managed Realignment South West EA 
			 Haldon Pier, Torquay, Structural Repairs and Rock Armouring South West Torbay Council 
			 Truro Tidal Defences Including FFA South West EA 
			 SEASALTER to Graveney Sea Defences Southern EA 
			 Margate Flood and Coast Protection Scheme Southern Thanet District Council 
			 BIS5 - Beach Improvement Scheme Stage 5 (linked to stage 4) South West Bournemouth Borough Council 
			 Great Yarmouth Compartment C Anglian EA 
			 Weston-super-Mare Sea Defences South West North Somerset Council 
			 Denge Beach Management 10/11 Southern EA 
			 Cullercoats Bay Design and Construction North East North Tyneside Council 
			 Bridlington Spa Royal Princes Parade Seawall Construction North East East Riding of Yorkshire Council 
			 Humberston Fifties Coastal Defence upgrade Anglian North East Lincolnshire Borough Council 
			 Medmerry Managed Realignment Southern EA 
			 Wave Reflection Wall Remediation Works North West Lancaster CC 
			 Lyme Regis Coast Protections Works Phase 4 South West West Dorset District Council 
			 Great Yarmouth - Lifeboat Anglian EA 
			 Portsea Island - Flood Cell 1: Southsea - Development Southern Portsmouth City Council 
			 Humber: Swinefleet North East EA 
			 Portsea Island - Flood Cell 4: North Portsea Island - Development Southern Portsmouth City Council 
			 Greatham North North East EA 
			 Walberswick to Dunwich Frontage Anglian EA 
			 Canvey Gravity Sluices (Works) Anglian EA 
			 Bulverhythe Capital Maintenance 2007/08 - 2011/12 Southern EA 
			 Sandwich and Deal PAR Preparation Southern EA 
			 Minsmere Flood Management Project Anglian EA 
			 PETT Shingle Renourishment PH2-6 Southern EA 
			 Shorehamadur Tidal Walls West Bank Southern EA

Common Fisheries Policy

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether she plans to secure an extension to the competence of UK fisheries management within its territorial waters during the forthcoming review of the Common Fisheries Policy;
	(2)  if she will seek to extend the UK fisheries limits in future negotiations at EU level on common fisheries policy reform.

Richard Benyon: In negotiations on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the UK will be seeking to enable individual member states to manage marine resources more effectively through better integration of fisheries management with other marine policies. With that in mind, we will be seeking changes that enable member states to develop and implement measures to manage marine ecosystems more efficiently beyond the six mile limit. We also want to see reform of the CFP delivering a simplified and decentralised decision-making framework that allows those closest to a fishery to take decisions on appropriate management measures.

Common Fisheries Policy

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of extending UK competence to manage an exclusive UK inshore fishing effort within a limit of  (a) 12 and  (b) 24 nautical miles.

Richard Benyon: The UK has not undertaken a specific cost benefit analysis with respect to extending the UK competence to manage an exclusive UK inshore fishing effort. We are, however, working with others across the EU to shape the European Commission's proposals on Common Fisheries Policy reform. We will wish to examine carefully the Commission's emerging options, which we expect to see over the next few months. It is not yet clear how these will affect member states' control over inshore fishing effort but I am keen to promote decentralisation of fisheries management away from the current centralised regime. Of course, any reassessment of member state competence would need to safeguard historic access rights and the benefits of relative stability in member states' shares of fishing opportunities, including rights that UK fishers currently benefit from in other member states' territorial waters.

Common Fisheries Policy

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her priorities are for the forthcoming negotiations on the review of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Richard Benyon: We are developing the UK's negotiating priorities for reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP). We are clear that any reform should:
	Devolve fisheries management away from current centralised control over detailed regulations, for example through regionalisation. We support the EU Commission's general direction in this area and will be pressing to ensure the result is a decentralised and simpler decision-making process.
	Enable and encourage fishermen to better plan for their businesses for the long-term, giving them more control, incentives and responsibility for managing fish stocks and helping to tackle over-capacity where it exists.
	Integrate fisheries more effectively with management and conservation of marine resources more widely. As pressures and competing demands for use of marine resources grow, it is increasingly important for fisheries management to be joined up with the management of other marine activities. We need flexible mechanisms under a reformed CFP that enable us to meet our international conservation obligations.

Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding has been allocated to Northern Ireland from the European Fisheries Fund; and how much matched funding from the Government such allocations have attracted.

Richard Benyon: The EU budget for the European Fisheries Fund's programme for 2007-13 is €4.3 billion of which the UK is allocated €138m (£120 million). From this allocation, Northern Ireland receives €18m (£16 million). Matched funding for Northern Ireland is the devolved responsibility of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Floods: Chesterfield

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the status is of each flood remediation project for the River Rother and River Hipper  (a) planned,  (b) approved and  (c) implemented since 2007.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency is currently taking forward the Avenue Coking Works Remediation Project, which incorporates a flood storage area. This will provide protection from the River Rother to more than 100 properties and businesses in Chesterfield. Further schemes to provide protection from the River Rother are being assessed.
	The Environment Agency has proposed a scheme that will provide protection from the River Hipper to areas of Chesterfield. Subject to funding approval, detailed design for the scheme will begin in 2012-13, with construction planned to begin the following year.

Inland Waterways: Repairs and Maintenance

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure British Waterways has incurred on maintaining and developing waterway network infrastructure in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of such expenditure was on infrastructure not classified as a principal asset in each such year; what estimate she has made of such expenditure in each of the next three years; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: British Waterways does not record information in the format requested.
	British Waterways has spent £334 million on major infrastructure works and dredging over the last 10 years, of which £218 million (65%) relates to work on what they classify as principal assets. In addition British Waterways has spent £347 million on third party funded restoration and regeneration projects.
	The analysis of the expenditure over the last ten years which is derived from their published annual report and accounts is appended. It has only been since 2006-07 that BW have sub-analysed other operating expenditure further to disclose how much is spent directly on waterway network general maintenance and customer service activities. The analysis by year is also provided.
	British Waterways is currently considering its expenditure plans for the next three years which will need to take account of the outcome of the government's forthcoming spending review and its estimates of future commercial income.

Land Drainage: Finance

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the environmental effects of the recent reduction in funding for land drainage maintenance by the Environment Agency.

Richard Benyon: There has not been any specific reduction in Government funding for land drainage maintenance. DEFRA provides grant in aid to the Environment Agency for flood and coastal erosion risk management, which may include land drainage maintenance, where this is the most effective means of reducing flood risk. The Environment Agency considers the environmental effects of its decisions on a case by case basis when deciding how to get best value for money from DEFRA's investment.

Landfill

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish her response to the consultation on landfill bans.

Richard Benyon: The Consultation on the Introduction of Restrictions on the Landfilling of Certain Wastes closed on 10 June 2010. Responses are currently being collated and analysed. The Government will publish a response to the consultation in due course.
	Future policy on reducing landfill will be considered in the context of the Government's recently announced review of waste policy in England.

National Parks: Finance

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budgetary allocations she has made to each national park for  (a) 2010-11 and  (b) 2011-12.

Richard Benyon: Savings to DEFRA's 2010-11 budgets totalling £162 million were recently announced. The revised allocations for each of the national park authorities are as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Broads Authority 4,229,502 
			 Dartmoor 4,739,642 
			 Exmoor 3,978,580 
			 Lake District 7,171,279 
			 New Forest 6,028,096 
			 Northumberland 3,311,334 
			 North York Moors 5,428,266 
			 Peak District 8,298,814 
			 South Downs 7,290,000 
			 Yorkshire Dales 5,398,563 
			 Total 55,874,076 
			  Note: The allocation for the Lake District includes £250,000 for repairs to the rights of way network caused by flooding, and £1,800,000 for refurbishment of office accommodation for the New Forest National Park Authority. 
		
	
	The allocations for 2011-12 will be announced later this year.

Set-aside Schemes

Mark Spencer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on the objectives of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: The Government remain strongly committed to the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, which we consider an excellent example of the farming industry taking responsibility for its environmental impacts. The Secretary of State and I met a number of senior representatives of the campaign's partner organisations at the recent cereals show, and look forward to receiving the campaign's
	Progress Report later this month.

Waste Disposal

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is for the forthcoming survey on industrial and commercial waste.

Richard Benyon: The project was initiated in February 2010 and fieldwork began in early June 2010. The fieldwork phase is due to complete at the end of October 2010. DEFRA is expecting to receive and publish provisional results by mid October 2010, with the final outputs (i.e. detailed analysis, final report, and final anonymised dataset) due in early December 2010.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Pay

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010,  Official Report, column 53W, on departmental manpower, what the salary range is of staff employed at each grade in the private office of each Minister in his Department.

Alan Duncan: Details of the salary range for full-time staff at each civil service grade employed at the Department for International Development (DFID) are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  DFID grade  Equivalent traditional civil service grade  Pay range (London scale) 
			 C1 AO £22,530 
			 B2 EO £25,029-£27,317 
			 B1 HEO £30,868-£34,534 
			 B1(D) Fast Stream £30,403-£36,377 
			 A2 G7 £47,555-£56,293 
			 A1 G6 £58,120-£68,221 
			 Deputy Director G5 £58,200-£117,750

International Assistance: Water

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will urge the Adaptation Fund Board to prioritise those projects committed to providing sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and hygiene in line with Millennium Development Goal 7.

Stephen O'Brien: The Adaptation Fund finances climate adaptation projects that benefit vulnerable communities and are proposed by developing countries. The Board's criteria specify that projects should clearly meet the needs of vulnerable communities but do not prioritise one Millennium Development Goal above the others. Some proposals include access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation and hygiene. Others cover issues such as food security, health and disaster risk reduction. The Adaptation Fund Board considers proposals on their merit on a case by case basis.
	In The Coalition: our programme for government, the Government highlighted their commitment to clean water and sanitation, stating that we will prioritise aid spending to ensure everyone has access to these and other services, and will particularly focus on the rights of women, children and people with disabilities.

International Assistance: Water

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to achieve the sanitation targets defined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Stephen O'Brien: In The Coalition: our programme for government, the Government highlighted their commitment to clean water and sanitation, stating that we will prioritise aid spending to ensure everyone has access to these and other services, and will particularly focus on the rights of women, children and people with disabilities.
	In the coming months DFID will be reviewing its aid programme to determine how we can achieve better value for money for the taxpayer and accelerate progress towards the MDGs, including the target on clean water and sanitation.

International Assistance: Water

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's budget for 2010-11 has been allocated for the purpose of meeting the Millennium Development Goal target of providing safe drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa.

Stephen O'Brien: In The Coalition: our programme for government, the Government highlighted their commitment to clean water and sanitation, stating that we will prioritise aid spending to ensure everyone has access to these and other services, and will particularly focus on the rights of women, children and people with disabilities.
	Under the previous Government 2.7% of the Department for International Development (DFID) budget was allocated to improving water and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2010-11.
	In the coming months DFID will be reviewing its aid programmes to determine how we can achieve better value for money for the taxpayer and accelerate growth towards the MDGs. Aid spending to improve access to clean water and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa will be reviewed as part of this process.

Kyrgyzstan: Internally Displaced People

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist Uzbeki people displaced by the recent violence in Kyrgyzstan; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) is monitoring the situation in Kyrgyzstan closely. We are in regular contact with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross locally and at HQ level. The UK provides core funding to these and many other international humanitarian agencies.

Kyrgyzstan: Politics and Government

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) is monitoring the situation in Kyrgyzstan closely. We are in regular contact with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross locally and at HQ level. As of 18 June, the United Nations estimates that 191 people are dead and 400,000 people have been displaced. The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated that 100,000 refugees have crossed the border to Uzbekistan.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that aid which it sends to Gaza reaches those who need it; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The UK does not send aid directly to Gaza. However, we do fund the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides basic services to Gazan refugees such as education, health care and food aid.
	Due to restrictions on access UNRWA and other aid organisations have found it difficult to import into Gaza all the items they need to carry out their work effectively. DFID is therefore funding a United Nations team to work with the Government of Israel and aid agencies to facilitate the transfer of goods into Gaza.
	The announcement by the Government of Israel of an easing of restrictions, including a move from a list of permitted items to a list of banned goods, is a step in the right direction. We will continue to press the Government of Israel to ensure they deliver on their commitments.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Departmental Internet

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the URL is of each website managed by  (a) his Department and  (b) each non-departmental public body and agency for which his Department is responsible.

Edward Davey: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) URLs of websites managed directly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) are:
	www.bis.gov.uk
	www.ecommerce-awards.co.uk
	www.dtistats.net
	www.enemyproperty.gov.uk
	www.theredferninquiry.co.uk
	www.shareholderexecutive.gov.uk
	www.sustainable-construction.org.uk
	www.aebc.gov.uk
	www.certoffice.org
	www.foresight.gov.uk
	www.ecochecker.co.uk
	www.spire.bis.gov.uk
	http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/backingyoungbritain
	http://poit.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/poit
	www.independent.gov.uk/hereview
	www.independent.gov.uk/regulatorypolicycommittee
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/companycharges
	http://interactive.dius.gov.uk/nms/
	http://archive.bis.gov.uk/
	www.teachusalesson.com
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/scienceandsociety
	www.nationalstudentforum.com
	www.whogetsthetip.com
	The following websites managed by BIS are shortly to be closed, with content to be moved to:
	www.bis.gov.uk
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/lowcarbon
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/unleashingaspiration
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/nano
	www.interactive.bis.gov.uk/advancedmanufacturing
	 (b) URLs for websites managed by the Department's NDPBs and agencies This list of sites is drawn from the centrally-managed Government Website Database. To contact each NDPB to provide this information would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Department's Executive Agencies (Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the Intellectual Property Office, the National Measurement Office and the Skills Funding Agency) will reply separately.
	 Advisory NDPBs :
	 Council for Science and Technology
	www.cst.gov.uk
	 Low Pay Commission (LPC)
	www.lowpay.gov.uk
	 Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP)
	www.sabip.org.uk
	 Executive NDPBs:
	 Advantage West Midlands (RDA)
	www.advantagewm.co.uk
	 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service  (ACAS)
	www.acas.org.uk
	 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
	www.ahrc.ac.uk
	 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
	www.bbsrc.ac.uk
	 British Hallmarking Council (BHC)
	www.britishhallmarkingcouncil.gov.uk
	 Capital for Enterprise (CfEL)
	www.capitalforenterprise.gov.uk
	 Competition Commission
	www.competition-commission.org.uk
	 Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
	www.cskills.org.uk
	 Consumer Focus
	www.consumerfocus.org.uk
	 Design Council
	www.designcouncil.org.uk
	 East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA)
	www.emda.org.uk
	 East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
	www.eeda.org.uk
	 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
	www.esrc.ac.uk
	 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council  (EPSRC)
	www.epsrc.ac.uk
	 Engineering Construction Industry Training Board  (ECITB)
	www.ecitb.org.uk
	 Hearing Aid Council (HAC)
	www.thehearingaidcouncil.org.uk
	 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
	www.findfoundationdegree.co.uk
	 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
	www.fdf.ac.uk
	 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
	www.hethatworks.co.uk
	 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
	www.hefce.ac.uk
	 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
	www.jisc.ac.uk
	 Investors in People UK (now part of UK CES)
	www.investorsinpeople.co.uk
	 Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO)
	www.lbro.org.uk
	 London Development Agency (LDA)
	www.lda.gov.uk
	 Medical Research Council (MRC)
	www.mrc.ac.uk
	 National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)
	www.nesta.org.uk
	 Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
	www.nerc.ac.uk
	 North West Development Agency (NWDA)
	www.nwda.co.uk
	 North West Development Agency (NWDA)
	www.nwdabusinessfinance.co.uk
	 Office for Fair Access (OFFA)
	www.offa.org.uk
	 One North East (RDA)
	www.onenortheast.co.uk
	 Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)
	www.englandsrdas.com
	 Research Councils UK (RCUK)
	www.rcuk.ac.uk
	 Simpler Trade Procedures Board (SITPRO)
	www.sitpro.org.uk
	 Simpler Trade Procedures Board (SITPRO)
	www.unedocsuk.co.uk
	 South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)
	www.seeda.co.uk
	 South West of England Regional Development Agency
	www.southwestrda.org.uk
	 Student Loans Company (SLC)
	www.studentloans.gov.uk
	 Student Loans Company (SLC)
	www.slc.co.uk
	 Student Loans Company (SLC)
	www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk
	 Technology Strategy Board (TSB)
	www.ktponline.org.uk/
	 Technology Strategy Board (TSB)
	www.innovateuk.org
	 Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)
	www.ukces.org.uk
	 Yorkshire Forward (RDA)
	www.yorkshire-forward.com
	 Tribunal NDPBs :
	 Centr al Arbitration Committee (CAC)
	www.cac.gov.uk
	 Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)
	www.catribunal.org.uk
	  Letter from Geoff Russell, dated 18 June 2010:
	I am replying on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 9 June (UIN 2360), to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, concerning the URLs of the websites managed by the Department and its agencies.
	The Skills Funding Agency was set up as an agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 01 April 2010. As a new agency, we are working with the Department to get our new websites listed on the Government Website Database:
	www.skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk
	http://iagreview.org.uk
	http://engage.traintogain.gov.uk
	www.theia.org.uk
	www.escs-isb.org.uk
	www.thedataservice.org.uk
	We are also working with the Department to converge or close the following websites for which we have been responsible and which are currently listed on the Government Website Database:
	http://www.trainingqualitystandard.co.uk
	www.advice-resources.co.uk
	http://www.nextstepstakeholder.co.uk
	www.miap.gov.uk
	soon to become:
	www.learningrecordsservice.org.uk
	http://www.learnerpanel.co.uk
	http://www.careervaluestool.com
	www.apprenticeships.org.uk
	www.nationalskillsacademy.co.uk
	www.traintogain.gov.uk
	http://nationalemployerservice.org.uk
	www.safelearner.info
	http://ukrip.co.uk
	http://nln.ac.uk/
	http://ukonlinecentres.com/
	 Letter from Peter Mason, dated 18 June 2010:
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 9 June to the Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, asking for the URLs of each website managed by the Department and the non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which it is responsible.
	The URLs for each of the websites managed by the National Measurement Office are:
	www.nmo.bis.gov.uk
	www.rohs.gov.uk/
	www.rohs.gov.uk/batteries/
	www.rohs.gov.uk/EUP/
	www.rohs.gov.uk/energylabelling/
	  Letter from Gareth Jones:
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 9 June 2010, UIN 2360 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The URL for Companies House's website is:
	www.companieshouse.gov.uk
	  Letter from John Alty, dated 11 June 2010:
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 09 June 2010, to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The URL of websites managed by the Intellectual Property Office are:
	1) Intellectual Property Office
	http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
	There are three sub sites linked to this website which carry their own identity:
	The Company Names Tribunal
	http://www.ipo.gov.uk/cna.htm
	The Copyright Tribunal
	http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ctribunal.htm
	and Intangible Assets Network
	www.ipo.gov.uk/ian
	2) Strategic Board for Intellectual Property Policy
	http://www.sabip.org.uk/
	3) Cracking Ideas
	http://www.crackingideas.com
	  Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 10 June 2010:
	The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has asked me to reply to your question, what the URL is of each website managed by (a) his Department and (b) each non-departmental public body and agency for which his Department is responsible.
	The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Insolvency Service directly manages a website which uses the following URL:
	www.insolvency.gov.uk

Departmental NDPBs

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidance he has issued to  (a) Companies House and  (b) other executive agencies on the identification of areas in which budgetary savings may be made.

Edward Davey: My hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to all partner organisations associated with his Department, including Companies House, on 26 May setting out expectations around cost savings to be made in the financial year 2010-11. A copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The 2010 Spending Review framework published by HM Treasury on 8 June also provides details on the process and guiding principles that will underpin the Government's approach to setting spending limits over the Spending Review period. A copy of the framework is available on the HM Treasury website.

Departmental Pay

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was paid in bonuses to civil servants in his Department in 2009-10.

Edward Davey: An element of the BIS overall pay award for staff below the SCS is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award. There are two types of award:
	1. In-year payments, which consist of special individual performance awards and non-pay rewards that recognise strong performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations.
	2. Annual performance awards that are paid to members of staff who receive a highly successful performance rating.
	Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls, and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs.
	Performance awards for the SCS are part of the pay system across the whole senior civil service, and are used to reward high performance sustained throughout the year, based on judgments of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers. The performance related pay scheme is designed to help drive high performance and support better public service delivery. Performance awards are non-consolidated and non pensionable. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body. For the year 2009-10 the Senior Salaries Review Body has confirmed that up to 8.6% of the BIS SCS pay bill may be used for non-consolidated performance awards for the SCS. No payments have yet been made, but BIS does not intend to use the full amount available.
	BIS was formed through a machinery of government change that occurred in June 2009. The Department was created by merging the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). The following information provides combined details for the performance payments made to staff below the SCS from each of the former Departments.
	
		
			   Amount spent on performance awards (£) 
			 2009-10 1,764,834

Departmental Reviews

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2010,  Official Report, column 137W, on Government Departments: reviews, what reviews his Department is undertaking; and what the  (a) purpose and  (b) timescale of each is.

Vincent Cable: The coalition agreement sets out in detail the Government's future plans, including the key reviews it will be undertaking. My Department will bring forward detailed information about these reviews in due course.

Graduates: Employment Schemes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to maintain the previous Government's policy of a Graduate Guarantee.

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
	The Graduate Guarantee was introduced by the previous Administration as a temporary measure, for 2009 graduates who reach six months unemployment.
	This Government are committed to providing targeted support and will be introducing a single, integrated work programme to deliver personalised support for the unemployed, including appropriate graduates. Until this is introduced, we will ensure that unemployed graduates receive the support they need.

Higher Education

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which higher education institutions  (a) he and  (b) the Minister of State for Universities visited in May 2010.

David Willetts: In May 2010, I visited the University of Birmingham.

Insolvency: Witham

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many small and medium-sized businesses in Witham constituency were declared insolvent in each year since 1997.

Edward Davey: Official statistics covering corporate insolvencies for England and Wales are not currently available at sub-national level, or differentiated by firm size.
	Corporate and personal insolvency statistics are published quarterly as a National Statistics press release by the Insolvency Service; they are available at:
	http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/insolv.htm
	Latest headline figures currently are those for Quarter 1 2010; Q2 2010 will be available from 6 August 2010.

One NorthEast: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which projects in Hartlepool constituency received funding from One NorthEast in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: The Department allocates budgets to Regional Development Agencies. The agencies determine which projects to support, subject to the terms of the accountability and financial framework and their delegated financial authorities. RDAs' investments have been guided by the regional economic strategy and their corporate plans. The Department does not hold details of individual projects supported by the RDAs within their delegated financial authorities.

Post Office: ICT

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times Ministers in his Department had discussions with Post Office Ltd on the Horizon system in the last five years.

Edward Davey: The Horizon system is an operational responsibility of the company and I have had no such discussions. It is an established convention that Minsters of one Administration cannot see the documents of a previous Administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested.

Post Offices

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  if he will require Post Office Ltd to publish the methodology it uses to calculate whether a post office reinstatement would have a negative effect on the remaining network in that area;
	(2)  which post offices have been re-opened under the Post Office Ltd Local Funding Guidance;
	(3)  what plans Post Office Ltd has to open new post offices in urban areas; and what criteria it will use in determining the viability of a business case for opening such a post office.

Edward Davey: I have asked David Smith, the Managing Director of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Witham

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many Post Office branches there were in Witham constituency in each year since 1997;
	(2)  if he will  (a) review and  (b) report to the House on the effectiveness of the Post Office's Horizon system.

Edward Davey: I have asked David Smith, the managing director of Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Unemployment: Young People

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many 16 to 24 year olds were not in education, employment or training in the Shepway district council area in each year since 1997.

John Hayes: The following table provides estimates of the number and proportion of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education employment or training (NEET) in Kent local education authority. This information is from the Annual Population Survey and covers the period 2000 to 2008, with 2008 being the most recent estimate available.
	We are unable to produce NEET estimates for 16 to 24-year-olds at district council level due to sample sizes being insufficiently large. Due to incomplete data, estimates are not available prior to 2000.
	
		
			  People aged 16-24 years old not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Kent  local education a uthority 
			   Number NEET  Percentage NEET  95%  c onfidence interval (pp) 
			 2000 13,000 11 +/-3 
			 2001 17,000 14 +/-3 
			 2002 18,000 13 +/-3 
			 2003 18,000 15 +/-4 
			 2004 16,000 12 +/-2 
			 2005 19,000 13 +/-2 
			 2006 23,000 16 +/-4 
			 2007 24,000 17 +/-4 
			 2008 25,000 17 +/-4 
		
	
	All of the estimates provided are subject to sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their confidence intervals(2) (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a CI of +/-4 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 4pp above the estimate and 4pp below the estimate.
	The Department for Education (DfE) is responsible for policy covering NEETs aged 16-18 years old and therefore this answer from BIS is partially on behalf of DfE.
	(1) Age used is respondents academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August.
	(2) Those given are 95% confidence intervals.